Production of fatty alcohols from engineered microorganisms

ABSTRACT

The invention generally relates to the production of a fatty alcohol composition from recombinant microbial cells. The fatty alcohols are produced by expressing a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”); a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) gene and a gene encoding an acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”).

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to previously filed U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/636,044, filed Apr. 20, 2012; U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/674,053, filed Jul. 20, 2012; PCT International Application No. PCT/US2012/069444, filed Dec. 13, 2012; and PCT International Application No. PCT/US2012/069553, filed Dec. 13, 2012; the entire content of each of which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

REFERENCE TO A SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING APPENDIX SUBMITTED AS AN ASCII FILE

The Sequence Listing written in file CX5-113WO2_ST25.TXT, created on Apr. 12, 2013, 85,746 bytes, machine format IBM-PC, MS-Windows operating system, is hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to recombinant microorganisms and particularly recombinant bacterial microorganisms exhibiting improved properties, especially improved production of fatty alcohols comprising carbon chain lengths of one or more of C12, C14 and C16.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Crude petroleum has traditionally been used as a primary source for raw materials for producing numerous specialty chemicals. Particular specialty chemicals that can be produced from the petrochemical raw materials include fatty alcohols. Fatty alcohols have many industrial and commercial uses. For example, fatty alcohols act as surfactants which are useful in personal care and household products, such as detergents. Fatty alcohols are also used in waxes, lubricating oils, cosmetics and solvents. However, obtaining fatty alcohols from crude petroleum requires a significant amount of energy and involves the use of a non-renewable energy source.

Further, even those fatty alcohols that are obtained from renewable sources such as from plant or animal derived fatty acids generally are prepared using a hydrogenation step. Hydrogenation is a costly process step but is utilized to eliminate the double bonds of unsaturated fatty acids. A number of prior art references disclose genetically engineered microorganisms that produce products including fatty acid derivatives such as fatty acid esters and fatty alcohols. For example reference is made to International application publications WO 2007/136762; WO 2008/119082; WO2010/075483; WO2011/008535; and WO 2011/019858; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,538. However a need still exists in the field for improved fatty alcohol production from bioengineered microorganisms that is efficient and cost effective and further that is tailored for use in particular industrial applications, such as for example in detergent compositions per se and in the production of surfactants for use therein. In addition, for certain industrial applications, the presence of one or more double bonds in a fatty alcohol is not a desirable characteristic because the double bond lowers the melting point, reduces the shelf-life and reduces the heat stability of the fatty alcohol. Therefore, compositions and methods that provide products having increased saturation levels in fatty alcohols are also commercially beneficial.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the production of a fatty alcohol composition from cultured recombinant microbial cells. Generally the fatty alcohols are produced by expressing a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”); a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) gene and a gene encoding an acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”). The recombinant microbial cells in some embodiments are E. coli cells. Further the invention relates to fatty alcohol compositions comprising the fatty alcohols or derivatives thereof produced by the recombinant microbial cells. These fatty alcohol compositions may be used inter alia in detergent compositions, cleaning compositions and personal care compositions.

In certain embodiments, the fatty alcohols are produced by a biosynthetic pathway depicted in FIG. 1. In certain embodiments of this pathway, a fatty acid is activated by ATP and reduced to generate an acyl-CoA by a fatty acyl CoA synthase. The acyl CoA is further reduced by a FAR to produce fatty alcohols.

In one aspect, the invention provides a recombinant bacterial microorganism comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”); (b) a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”) and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”); wherein the recombinant bacterial microorganism when cultured in the presence of a carbon source under suitable culture conditions produces a fatty alcohol composition. In certain embodiments, the recombinant bacterial microorganism is an E. coli. In certain embodiments, the TE is encoded by a fatB gene. In some aspects the TE has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 85% (88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:10 or SEQ ID NO:35. In some aspects, the fatB gene encoding the TE comprises at least 85% (88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:9 or SEQ ID NO:34. In certain embodiments, the FAR is encoded by a gene selected from the following organisms Marinobacter algicola, Marinobacter aquaeolei, Oceanobacter sp., Mus musculus, or Hahella chejuensis. In certain embodiments, the FAR has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 75% (80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NO:37, or SEQ ID NO:39. In certain embodiments, the gene encoding the FAR comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5, SEQ ID NO: 7, SEQ ID NO: 36 or SEQ ID NO: 38. In certain embodiments, the nucleic acid sequence encoding the FAR is a codon optimized polynucleotide sequence. In certain embodiments, the ACS has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 85% (88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8. In certain embodiments, the gene encoding ACS comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 7.

In a second aspect, the invention provides the embodiments presented in the first aspect and further comprises a recombinant bacterial microorganism comprising an inactivated fadR gene and/or an inactivated fadE. In certain embodiments the inactivated fadR gene comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 11. In certain embodiments, the inactivated fadE gene comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% or even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 13.

In another aspect, the invention provides a fatty alcohol composition produced by a recombinant bacterial microorganism as embodied in the first or second aspect. In certain embodiments, the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 60% (65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95% by weight of C12, C14, or C16 fatty alcohols or any combination thereof.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a method of producing a fatty alcohol composition. In certain embodiments, the method comprises culturing a recombinant bacterial microorganism as encompassed in the first or second aspect under suitable culture conditions with a suitable carbon source to produce a fatty alcohol composition and producing said fatty alcohol composition. In certain embodiments, at least 50% of the produced fatty alcohols are secreted into the culture. In certain embodiments the method further comprises recovering the produced fatty alcohol composition from the culture. In certain embodiments, the recovered fatty alcohols are used to produce alkanes and/or fatty esters. In certain embodiments, the produced fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 60% (65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90% or 95%) by weight of C12, C14, or C16 fatty alcohols or any combination thereof. In certain embodiments, the produced fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 0.5 g/L (and also at least 5.0 g/L) of fatty alcohols. In certain embodiments, the recombinant microorganism that produces the fatty alcohol composition is cultured at a temperature in the range of 20° C. to 45° C.; a pH in the range of pH 5 to pH 7; and for a time in the range of from 16 hours to 144 hours. In certain embodiments, the microorganism is cultured in the presence of fermentable sugars obtained from a cellulosic feedstock.

In yet another aspect, the invention provides a fatty alcohol composition comprising the fatty alcohols produced according to any one of the aspects above wherein the fatty alcohol composition is used in a detergent composition, a personal care composition or a cleaning composition.

In other aspects the invention provides a recombinant bacterial microbial culture that produces a composition of fatty alcohols said fatty alcohol composition comprising fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of at least 60% of C12, C14 and C16 fatty alcohols, the culture comprising a recombinant bacterial microorganism comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”); (b) a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”) and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”). In some embodiments of this aspect the recombinant bacterial culture is comprised of E. coli cells. In other embodiments of this aspect the heterologous TE has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 90% or at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35; the heterologous FAR has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 90% or at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 37 or 39 (and in particular at least 95% or at least 98% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39); and the over-expressed ACS has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 90% or at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8. In yet further embodiments of this aspect the fatty alcohol composition comprises fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of at least 20% (and also at least 30% and in some cases at least 50%) of C12 fatty alcohols and in other embodiments the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 80% by weight of C12, C14 or C16 fatty alcohols. In some embodiments of this aspect, at least 50% of the fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant bacterial cells are secreted from said cells into culture. In further embodiments, the fatty alcohol composition produced by the recombinant cells is recovered from the extracellular culture and/or the recombinant bacterial cells.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a pathway for the production of fatty alcohols in a recombinant cell according to an embodiment of the invention, wherein the fatty alcohols are secreted from the recombinant cell.

DEFINITIONS

Unless defined otherwise herein, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. Many technical dictionaries are known to those of skill in the art. Although any suitable methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein find use in the practice of the present invention, some methods and materials are described herein. It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodology, protocols, and reagents described, as these may vary, depending upon the context they are used by those of skill in the art.

Also, as used herein, the singular “a”, “an,” and “the” include the plural references, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Further, the term “or” is used in the present application to mean the disjunctive “or” and the conjunctive “and”.

Amino acids are designated using the three-letter symbols or one-letter symbols recommended by the IUPAC-IUB Biochemical Nomenclature Commission. Unless otherwise indicated, nucleic acids are written left to right in 5′ to 3′ orientation; amino acid sequences are written left to right in amino to carboxy orientation, respectively. “EC” number refers to the Enzyme Nomenclature of the Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NC-IUBMB). The IUBMB biochemical classification is a numerical classification system for enzymes based on the chemical reactions they catalyze.

Numeric ranges are inclusive of the numbers defining the range. Thus, every numerical range disclosed herein is intended to encompass every narrower numerical range that falls within such broader numerical range, as if such narrower numerical ranges were all expressly written herein. It is also intended that every maximum (or minimum) numerical limitation disclosed herein includes every lower (or higher) numerical limitation, as if such lower (or higher) numerical limitations were expressly written herein.

Furthermore, the headings provided herein are not limitations of the various aspects or embodiments of the invention which can be had by reference to the application as a whole. Accordingly, the terms defined immediately below are more fully defined by reference to the application as a whole. Nonetheless, in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, a number of terms are defined below.

As used herein, the term “comprising” and its cognates are used in their inclusive sense (i.e., equivalent to the term “including” and its corresponding cognates).

The term “fatty alcohol” as used herein refers to an aliphatic alcohol of the formula R—OH, where the R group is at least 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 or more carbons in length. R can be saturated or unsaturated. Further saturated or unsaturated fatty alcohols can be described as “Ca:b-OH”, wherein “a” is an integer that represents the total number of carbon atoms in the fatty alcohol and “b” is an integer that refers to the number of double bonds in the carbon chain. In some embodiments, a fatty alcohol produced according to the methods disclosed herein is a C8-C24 saturated or unsaturated fatty alcohol (i.e., a C8, C9, C10, C11, C12, C13, C14, C15, C16, C17, C18, C19, C20, C21, C22, or C24 fatty alcohol). In some embodiments, multiple fatty alcohols are produced with varying saturation levels. For example, in some embodiments, C10, C12, C14, C16 and/or C18 fatty alcohols are produced. However, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular fatty alcohol nor fatty alcohol saturation level. In some embodiments, one or more of the following fatty alcohols is produced: 1-decanol (C10:0), 1-dodecanol (C12:0), 1-tetradecanol (C14:0), 1-hexadecanol (C16:0), 1-octadecanol (C18:0).

The term “carbon chain length” as used herein means the number of carbon atoms in a carbon chain of a fatty alcohol, fatty alcohol substrate or fatty alcohol derivative. For example the term “012 fatty alcohol” refers to a fatty alcohol molecule having 12 carbons.

The phrase “preference for cleaving a substrate having a certain carbon chain length” or “predominantly cleaving a substrate having a certain carbon chain length” means that an enzyme cleaves or hydrolyzes mainly substrates having a defined number of carbon atoms. The preference is not necessarily exclusive. For example, an enzyme may have a preference for cleaving substrates with chain lengths of 12 carbons, may still cleave substrates having chain length of 10 or 14 carbon atoms. A more specific non-limiting example includes but is not limited to a TE that predominantly hydrolyzes C12 acyl ACP. The enzyme may still cleave a 010 or C14 ACP substrate.

The term a “fatty alcohol composition” as used herein, means a composition which encompasses at least one fatty alcohol and which is produced from an engineered (e.g. recombinant) microbial organism according to the methods of the invention. The fatty alcohol compositions of the invention may include one or more fatty alcohols. For example a fatty alcohol composition may include only C12 fatty alcohols or a fatty alcohol composition may include a combination of C12, C14 and C16 fatty alcohols and these fatty alcohols may be saturated or unsaturated fatty alcohols and linear, or branched.

The term “fatty acid” as used herein means a compound having the formula RCO₂H, wherein R is at least two carbons in length. In general R is between 4 and 22 carbons. Fatty acids may be saturated or unsaturated and further R may be linear or branched.

The term “fatty acyl-ACP as used herein means a compound having the formula RCOS-ACP, wherein “R” is at least three carbons in length and may be a straight chain or branched chain and saturated or unsaturated. The abbreviation “ACP” refers to an acyl carrier protein.

The terms “fatty acyl-CoA reductase”, “fatty acyl reductase”, and “fatty acyl acyl-ACP reductase” (EC 1,1.1.*) are used interchangeably herein to refer to an enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of a fatty acyl-CoA, a fatty acyl-ACP, or other fatty acyl thioester complex to a fatty alcohol, in a reaction linked to the oxidation of NAD(P)H to NAD(P)⁺. The abbreviation “FAR” is used herein to refer to these fatty alcohol forming enzymes. In some embodiments, a FAR enzyme includes functional fragments. In some embodiments, the FAR enzyme is a modified or variant FAR, wherein a wild-type FAR has been genetically modified to include at least 1 (at least 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30 or more) amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions, deletions and/or insertions) as compared to a reference FAR.

The term “acyl-CoA” refers to an acyl thioester formed between the carbonyl carbon of an alkyl chain and the sulfydryl group of the 4′-phosphopantetthionyl moiety of co-enzyme A (CoA) which has the formula R—C(O)—S—CoA, wherein R is an alkyl group having at least 4 carbon atoms and preferably between 10 and 14 carbon atoms. R may be straight or branched and saturated or unsaturated.

The term “FadD” enzyme as used herein refers to an “acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) (EC 6.2.1 (acid-thiol ligases)). In some embodiments, the ACS is classified as EC 6.2.1.3. These ACSs are also known as long chain fatty acid-CoA ligases. An ACS catalyzes the reaction of free fatty acids (both saturated and unsaturated fatty acids) into metabolically active CoA esters (e.g., acyl-CoA) during fatty acid degradation. In E. coli FadD is encoded by a fadD gene. In some embodiments the FadD may be classified as EC 2.3.1.86 (fatty acyl CoA synthase).

The term “FadK” enzyme as used herein is another acyl-CoA synthetase found in E. coli and other bacteria (ACS) (EC 6.2.1) that catalyzes the reaction of free fatty acids having preferentially C10 or less carbon chain lengths. In some cases the gene (fadK) encoding FadK has also been known as ydiD. Reference is made to Morgan-Kiss R M et al., 2004 J. Biol. Chem., 279:37324-37333.

In some bacterial organisms, (e.g. E. coli) fadD and fadK genes both occur and encode enzymes having ACS activity. In some bacterial organisms there may be more than two genes which encode enzymes having ACS activity.

The term “thioesterase or thioester hydrolase (TE)” enzyme used herein means an enzyme having thioesterase activity. TEs are identified as members of EC 3.1.2.1 to EC 3.1.2.27 and also EC3.1.1.5 and EC 3.1.2.-) and these enzyme which hydrolyze the thioester bond between a carbonyl group and a sulfur atom are classified based on enzyme function and substrate identity. In addition, TEs are classified based on the ThYme database (Thioester-active enzyme). In this classification system, TEs have been classified based on amino acid sequence similarity. Under the ThYme system, TEs are further divided into 24 different families (TE1-TE24). Reference is made to D. C. Cantu et al., (2010) Protein Science, 19:1281-1295 and D. C. Cantu et al., (2011) Nucleic Acid Research 39:doi10:1093/nar/gkq1072. TEs according to the invention will have the ability to catalyze a thioester cleavage reaction hydrolyzing a thioester into an acid and a thiol. TEs useful in the invention may be obtained from a number of sources including plant, bacterial, algal, and fungal sources.

The phrase “fatty acid biosynthetic enzymes” as used herein means a complex of enzymes involved in a number of reactions to produce saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The process is primed by the enzymatic conversion of malonyl-CoA into malonyl-ACP and continues by successive addition of 2 carbons derived from malonyl-ACP residues, providing ACP intermediates (i.e., acyl-ACPs). There are at least 8 enzymes involved fatty acid biosynthesis including FabA, FabB, FabD, FabF, FabG, FabH, FabI, and FabZ, collectively and individually referred to herein as “fatty acid biosynthetic” enzymes. Furthermore, the ACP protein plays a key role in fatty acid biosynthesis by anchoring the nascent acyl chain and making the acyl chain accessible to other enzymes.

The phrase “altered level of expression” means a polynucleotide or polypeptide in a recombinant microorganism encompassed by the invention is present in an amount or concentration that is different (e.g. greater or less) than the amount or concentration when compared to a corresponding reference microorganism.

The term “FadR” protein as used herein refers to a multifunctional dual regulator of E. coli that exerts negative control over the fatty acid degradative regulon and activates expression of fabA and fabF. The FadR regulator is encoded by a fadR gene. A “regulon” comprises a set of genes under control of a single regulatory protein.

The term “FadE” enzyme as used herein means an acyl-CoA dehydrogenase enzyme (EC 1.3.99.-) such as from E. coli. A FadE gene is also known as yafH.

Throughout the specification a reference may be made using an abbreviated gene name or an enzyme name. For example “fadD” refers to a gene encoding an acyl-CoA synthetase enzyme (ACS) or as sometimes referred to herein a FadD enzyme.

The term “analogous sequence” or “homologous sequence” as used herein means a sequence wherein the function of the gene is essentially the same as a reference gene. For example, a reference gene may be a fadD gene from E. coli. In some embodiments, the analogous sequence will have at least about 60%, for example, at least about 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% sequence identity with the reference sequence.

The term “wild-type” or “native” as used herein in reference to a polypeptide or protein mean a polypeptide or protein expressed by a naturally occurring microorganism found in nature. When used in reference to a microorganism, the term means a naturally occurring (not genetically modified or engineered) microorganism.

The term “substrate” as used herein refers to a substance or compound that is converted or suitable for conversion into another compound (e.g., a product) by the action of at least one enzyme. The term includes not only a single compound but also combinations comprising more than one compound.

The term “conversion” as used herein refers to the enzymatic transformation of a substrate to at least one corresponding product. “Percent conversion” refers to the percent of the substrate that is converted to the product(s) within a specified period of time and under specified conditions.

Nucleic acid sequences may be “introduced” into a cell by protoplast fusion, transfection, transduction, transformation, electroporation or any other suitable method known in the art. A nucleic acid sequence introduced into a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell may be integrated into a chromosome or may be maintained as an episome.

The terms “transformed” and “stably transformed” as used herein refer to a cell that has a non-native (i.e., heterologous) polynucleotide sequence integrated into its genome or as an episomal plasmid that is maintained for at least two generations.

The term “gene” as used herein refers to a polynucleotide (e.g., a DNA segment), that encodes a polypeptide and includes regions preceding and following the coding regions as well as intervening sequences (introns) between individual coding segments (exons).

The terms “endogenous” or “homologous” when used in reference to a gene refers to a gene that is found in a parental strain of a cell (e.g., a fungal or bacterial cell). As used herein in making comparisons between nucleic acid sequences, “homologous genes” (or “homologue” genes) refers to genes from different, but usually related species, which correspond to each other and are identical or very similar to each other. The term encompasses genes that are separated by speciation (i.e., the development of new species) (e.g., orthologous genes), as well as genes that have been separated by genetic duplication (e.g., paralogous genes).

The term “heterologous” polynucleotide as used herein means any polynucleotide that is introduced into a host cell by laboratory techniques, and includes polynucleotides that are removed from a host cell, subjected to laboratory manipulation, and then reintroduced into a host cell.

In some embodiments, when “heterologous” is used with reference to a nucleic acid or polypeptide, the term refers to a sequence that is not normally expressed and secreted by an organism (e.g., a “wild-type” organism). In some embodiments, the term encompasses a sequence that comprises two or more subsequences which are not found in the same relationship to each other as normally found in nature, or is recombinantly engineered so that its level of expression, or physical relationship to other nucleic acids or other molecules in a cell, or structure, is not normally found in nature. For instance, a heterologous nucleic acid is typically recombinantly produced, having two or more sequences from unrelated genes arranged in a manner not found in nature (e.g., a nucleic acid open reading frame (ORF) of the invention operatively linked to a promoter sequence inserted into an expression cassette, such as a vector).

As used herein, a “heterologous enzyme” is used in reference to an enzyme that is encoded by a heterologous gene. However, it is also contemplated herein that a heterologous gene can encode an endogenous or homologous enzyme. As used herein, the term “heterologous gene” refers to a gene that occurs in a form not found in a parental strain of the host cell. Thus, in some embodiments, a heterologous gene is a gene that is derived from a species that is different from the species of the host cell expressing the gene. In some embodiments, a heterologous gene is a modified version of a gene that is endogenous to the host cell (e.g., an endogenous gene subjected to manipulation and then introduced or transformed into the host cell). For example, in some embodiments, a heterologous gene has an endogenous coding sequence, but has modifications in the promoter sequence. Similarly, in other embodiments, a heterologous gene encodes the same amino acid sequence as an endogenous gene, but has modifications in codon usage and/or to noncoding regions (e.g., introns), and/or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the heterologous gene is a gene that has been modified to overexpress a gene product of interest.

The term “expression” as used herein includes any step involved in the production of a polypeptide including, but not limited to, transcription, post-transcriptional modification, translation, post-translational modification, and secretion.

The term “overexpression” as used herein refers to any state in which a gene is caused to be expressed at an elevated rate or level as compared to the endogenous expression rate or level for that gene. In some embodiments, “overexpression” includes an elevated translation rate or level of the gene compared to the endogenous translation rate or level for that gene. In some embodiments, overexpression includes an elevated transcription rate or level of the gene compared to the endogenous transcription rate or level for that gene. It is intended that the term encompass overexpression of endogenous, as well as heterologous proteins.

The term “recombinant” as used herein includes reference to a cell or vector, that has been modified by the introduction of a heterologous nucleic acid sequence or that the cell is derived from a cell so modified. Thus, for example, recombinant cells express genes that are not found in identical form within the native (i.e., non-recombinant) form of the cell or express native genes that are otherwise abnormally expressed, under-expressed or not expressed at all as a result of deliberate human intervention. “Recombinant,” “engineered,” and “non-naturally occurring,” when used with reference to a cell, nucleic acid, or polypeptide, refers to a material, or a material corresponding to the natural or native form of the material, that has been modified in a manner that would not otherwise exist in nature, or is identical thereto but produced or derived from synthetic materials and/or by manipulation using recombinant techniques. Non-limiting examples include, among others, recombinant cells expressing genes that are not found within the native (i.e., non-recombinant) form of the cell or express native genes that are otherwise expressed at a different level.

The term “plasmid” as used herein refers to a circular double-stranded (ds) DNA construct used as a cloning vector, and which forms an extrachromosomal self-replicating genetic element in some eukaryotes or prokaryotes, or integrates into the host chromosome.

The term “operably linked” as used herein refers to a configuration in which a control sequence is appropriately placed (i.e., in a functional relationship) at a position relative to a polynucleotide of interest such that the control sequence directs or regulates the expression of the polynucleotide and/or polypeptide of interest. Thus, a nucleic acid is “operably linked” to another nucleic acid sequence when it is placed into a functional relationship with another nucleic acid sequence.

The term “control sequence” as used herein includes all components, which are necessary and/or advantageous for the expression of a polynucleotide of the present disclosure. Each control sequence may be native or foreign to the polynucleotide of interest. Such control sequences include, but are not limited to, leaders, polyadenylation sequences, propeptide sequences, promoters, signal peptide sequences, and transcription terminators.

The terms “modified host cell”, “engineered host cell” or “recombinant host cell” as used herein refer to a cell whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. A genetically modified cell also refers to a derivative of or the progeny of a cell whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. An example of a genetic modification as a result of genetic engineering techniques includes a modification to the genomic DNA. Another example of a genetic modification as a result of genetic engineering techniques includes introduction of a stable heterologous nucleic acid into the cell.

The phrase “a corresponding engineered cell grown under essentially the same culture conditions” as used herein means a reference host cell (either engineered or native) which is grown under essentially the same culture conditions, including but not limited to pH, temperature, time, and culture media as compared to an engineered cell encompassed by the invention and to which the reference cell is being compared to. In some specific nonlimiting examples the engineered cell encompassed by the invention which comprises heterologous polynucleotides encoding a TE, FAR (i.e., FAR-V4) and FadD will be compared to a reference cell comprising the same FAR (i.e., FAR-V4) under essentially the same conditions.

The term “carbon source” as used herein refers to a substrate that is suitable for use as a source of carbon for cell growth.

Nucleic acids “hybridize” when they associate, typically in solution. There are numerous texts and other reference materials that provide details regarding hybridization methods for nucleic acids (See e.g., Tijssen, Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology—Hybridization with Nucleic Acid Probes,” Part 1, Chapter 2, Elsevier, New York, (1993), incorporated herein by reference). For polynucleotides of at least 100 nucleotides in length, low to very high stringency conditions are defined as follows: prehybridization and hybridization at 42° C. in 5×SSPE, 0.3% SDS, 200 μg/ml sheared and denatured salmon sperm DNA, and either 25% formamide for low stringencies, 35% formamide for medium and medium-high stringencies, or 50% formamide for high and very high stringencies, following standard Southern blotting procedures. For polynucleotides of at least 200 nucleotides in length, the carrier material is finally washed three times each for 15 minutes using 2×SSC, 0.2% SDS at least at 50° C. (“low” stringency), at least at 55° C. (“medium” or “moderate” stringency), at least at 60° C. (“medium-high” stringency), at least at 65° C. (“high” stringency), and at least at 70° C. (“very high” stringency). In some embodiments, the stringency conditions include those that: (1) employ low ionic strength and high temperature for washing, for example 0.015 M sodium chloride/0.0015 M sodium citrate/0.1% sodium dodecyl sulfate at 50° C.; (2) employ a denaturing agent during hybridization, such as formamide, for example, 50% (v/v) formamide with 0.1% bovine serum albumin/0.1% Ficoll/0.1% polyvinylpyrrolidone/50 mM sodium phosphate buffer at pH 6.5 with 750 mM sodium chloride, 75 mM sodium citrate at 42° C.; or (3) employ 50% formamide, 5×SSC (0.75 M NaCl, 0.075 M sodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 6.8), 0.1% sodium pyrophosphate, 5×Denhardt's solution, sonicated salmon sperm DNA (50 μg/mL), 0.1% SDS, and 10% dextran sulfate at 42° C., with washes at 42° C. in 0.2×SSC (sodium chloride/sodium citrate) and 50% formamide at 55° C., followed by a high-stringency wash consisting of 0.1×SSC containing EDTA at 55° C. In other embodiments, the stringency conditions include overnight incubation at 37° C. in a solution comprising: 20% formamide, 5×SSC (150 mM NaCl, 15 mM trisodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.6), 5×Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulfate, and 20 mg/mL denatured sheared salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing the filters in 1×SSC at about 37-50° C. The skilled artisan will recognize how to adjust the temperature, ionic strength, etc. as necessary to accommodate factors to accomplish the desired stringency.

The phrase “naturally-occurring enzyme” as used herein refers to an enzyme having an unmodified amino acid sequence which is identical to that found in nature (i.e., “wild-type”). Naturally occurring enzymes include native enzymes (i.e., those enzymes naturally expressed or found in the particular microorganism).

The term “variant” or “mutant” as used interchangeably herein refer to a polypeptide sequence or polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide, said sequence comprising one or more modifications relative to a corresponding wild-type enzyme (or other specified reference sequence) or the wild-type polynucleotide (or other specified reference sequence) such as substitutions, insertions, deletions, and/or truncations of one or more specific amino acid residues or of one or more specific nucleotides or codons in the polypeptide or polynucleotide. In some embodiments, reference to a variant at an amino acid residue refers to a substitution of the amino acid residue for another amino acid residue. Mutagenesis and directed evolution methods are well known in the art for creating variants. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,783,428; U.S. Pat. No. 6,586,182; U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,679; and Ling, et al., 1999, “Approaches to DNA mutagenesis: an overview,” Anal. Biochem., 254(2):157-78; Smith, 1985, “In vitro mutagenesis,” Ann. Rev. Genet., 19:423-462; Carter, 1986, “Site-directed mutagenesis,” Biochem. J., 237:1-7; Minshull, et al., 1999, “Protein evolution by molecular breeding,” Current Opinion in Chemical Biology, 3:284-290;

The terms “isolated” or “recovered” as used herein refer to a material that is removed from its original environment (e.g., the natural environment, if it is naturally occurring). For example, the material is said to be “isolated” when it is present in a particular composition in a higher or lower concentration than exists in a naturally-occurring or wild-type organism or in combination with components not normally present upon expression from a naturally-occurring or wild-type organism. For example, a naturally-occurring polynucleotide or polypeptide present in a living animal is not isolated, but the same polynucleotide or polypeptide, separated from some or all of the coexisting materials in the natural system, is isolated. In some embodiments, such polynucleotides are part of a vector, and/or such polynucleotides or polypeptides are part of a composition, and still considered to be isolated, in that such vector or composition is not part of its natural environment. In some embodiments, the term isolated refers to fatty alcohol compounds of varying chain lengths which are isolated or recovered from an engineered cell according to the invention.

The terms “numbered with reference to” or “corresponding to,” when used in the context of the numbering of a given amino acid or polynucleotide sequence, refers to the numbering of the residues of a specified reference sequence when the given amino acid or polynucleotide sequence is compared to the reference sequence.

As used herein, the term “biologically active fragment,” or “functional fragment” refers to a polypeptide that has an amino-terminal and/or carboxy-terminal deletion(s) and/or internal deletion(s), but where the remaining amino acid sequence is identical to the corresponding positions in the sequence to which it is being compared (e.g., a full-length FAR of the present invention) and that retains substantially all of the activity of the full-length polypeptide. A biologically active fragment can comprise about 60%, about 65%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, at about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, or about 99% of a full-length polypeptide to which the functional fragment is being compared to (e.g., a functional fragment of a FAR polypeptide may comprises at least 80%, (85%, 90%, 93%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) of the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NOs: 4, 6, 37 or 39).

The term “inactivated” as applied to a gene refers to any genetic modification that decreases or eliminates the expression of the gene and/or the functional activity of the corresponding gene product (mRNA and/or protein). The term encompasses complete or partial inactivation, suppression, deletion, interruption, blockage, promoter alterations, antisense RNA, dsRNA, or down-regulation of a gene. This can be accomplished, for example, by gene “knockout,” inactivation, mutation (e.g., insertion, deletion, point, or frameshift mutations that disrupt the expression or activity of the gene product), or by use of inhibitory RNAs (e.g., sense, antisense, or RNAi technology). A deletion may encompass all or part of a gene's coding sequence. The term “knockout” refers to the deletion of most (at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99%) or all (100%) of the coding sequence of a gene. In some embodiments, any number of nucleotides can be deleted, from a single base to an entire piece of a chromosome.

With respect to “homologs,” reference to particular gene names is for illustration and not limitation. It is understood that gene names vary from organism to organism and reference to a gene name is not intended to be limiting, but is intended to encompass homologs and polymorphic variants with equivalent activity. In certain embodiments, the invention includes a polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence with at least about 50%, about 60%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, or about 99% identity with the named gene or gene product.

The terms “peptide,” “polypeptide,” and “protein” are used interchangeably herein to refer to a polymer of amino acid residues. In various aspects of the invention, the availability of a polypeptide sequence of a specific enzyme provides a description of all polynucleotides capable of encoding the polypeptide of known sequence because of the known correspondence of particular codons and the amino acids they encode. In certain embodiments, the degeneracy of the genetic code is used to produce a large number of polynucleotides that encode a polypeptide described herein.

“Identity” or “percent identity” in the context of two or more polypeptide sequences or two or more polynucleotide sequences refers to two or more sequences or sub-sequences that are the same or have a specified percentage of amino acid residues or nucleotide residues that are the same. For example, the sequence can have a percent identity of at least about 50%, about 60%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, or about 99% over a specified region to a reference sequence when compared and aligned for maximum correspondence over a comparison window, or designated region as measured using a sequence comparison algorithms or by manual alignment and visual inspection.

Optimal alignment of sequences for comparison and determination of sequence identity can be determined by a sequence comparison algorithm or by visual inspection (see, generally, Ausubel et al., infra). When optimally aligning sequences and determining sequence identity by visual inspection, percent sequence identity is calculated as the number of residues of the test sequence that are identical to the reference sequence divided by the number of non-gap positions and multiplied by 100. When using a sequence comparison algorithm, test and reference sequences are entered into a computer, subsequence coordinates and sequence algorithm program parameters are designated. The sequence comparison algorithm then calculates the percent sequence identities for the test sequences relative to the reference sequence, based on the program parameters.

An algorithm that may be used to determine whether a polypeptide has sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:2 or any other sequence as herein disclosed is the BLAST algorithm, which is described in Altschul et al., 1990, J. Mol. Biol. 215:403-410, which is incorporated herein by reference. Software for performing BLAST analyses is publicly available through the National Center for Biotechnology Information (on the worldwide web at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/). The algorithm involves first identifying high scoring sequence pairs (HSPs) by identifying short words of length W in the query sequence, which either match or satisfy some positive-valued threshold score T when aligned with a word of the same length in a database sequence. T is referred to as the neighborhood word score threshold (Altschul et al, supra). These initial neighborhood word hits act as seeds for initiating searches to find longer HSPs containing them. The word hits are then extended in both directions along each sequence for as far as the cumulative alignment score can be increased. Cumulative scores are calculated using, for nucleotide sequences, the parameters M (reward score for a pair of matching residues; always >0) and N (penalty score for mismatching residues; always <0). For amino acid sequences, a scoring matrix is used to calculate the cumulative score. Extension of the word hits in each direction are halted when: the cumulative alignment score falls off by the quantity X from its maximum achieved value; the cumulative score goes to zero or below, due to the accumulation of one or more negative-scoring residue alignments; or the end of either sequence is reached. The BLAST algorithm parameters W, T, and X determine the sensitivity and speed of the alignment. For amino acid sequences, the BLASTP program uses as defaults a word size (W) of 3, an expectation (E) of 10, and the BLOSUM62 scoring matrix (see Henikoff & Henikoff, 1989, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:10915). Other programs that may be used include the Needleman-Wunsch procedure, J. Mol. Biol. 48: 443-453 (1970), using blosum62, a Gap start penalty of 7 and gap extend penalty of 1; and gapped BLAST 2.0 (see Altschul, et al. 1997, Nucleic Acids Res., 25:3389-3402) both available to the public at the National Center for Biotechnology Information Website.

Multiple sequences can be aligned with each other by visual inspection or using a sequence comparison algorithm, such as PSI-BLAST (Altschul, et al., 1997, supra) or “T-Coffee” (Notredame et al., 2000, J. Mol. Bio. 302:205-17). T-Coffee alignments may be carried out using default parameters (T-Coffee Technical Documentation, Version 8.01, July 2009, WorldWideWeb.tcoffee.org), or Protein Align. In Protein Align, alignments are computed by optimizing a function based on residue similarity scores (obtained from applying an amino acid substitution matrix to pairs of aligned residues) and gap penalties. Penalties are imposed for introducing and extending gaps in one sequence with respect to another. The final optimized function value is referred to as the alignment score. When aligning multiple sequences, Protein Align optimizes the “sum of pairs” score, i.e., the sum of all the separate pairwise alignment scores.

As used herein, the term “culturing” refers to growing a population of microbial cells under suitable conditions using any suitable medium (e.g., liquid, solid, or semi-solid media).

The term “extracellular environment” means the aqueous solution surrounding a cell membrane, excluding the intracellular space. For example, a secreted enzyme or a compound is found in the extracellular environment. In some embodiments, the extracellular environment comprises the culture medium used to grow the cell.

The term “contacting” refers to combining an enzyme and a substrate under conditions in which the enzyme can act on the substrate. Those skilled in the art will recognize that mixing a solution containing an enzyme with a substrate will effect “contacting.” Similarly, in the context of culturing microorganisms, culturing microorganisms in a media containing a substrate (e.g., a fermentable sugar) will effect “contacting” the microorganism with the substrate.

The term “fermentable sugars” refers to simple sugars (monosaccharides, disaccharides and short oligosaccharides) such as but not limited to glucose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, mannose and sucrose. Fermentable sugar is any sugar that a microorganism can utilize or ferment.

The terms “cleaning compositions” and “cleaning formulations” refer to compositions that find use in the removal of undesired compounds from items to be cleaning, such as fabric, dishes, contact lenses, other solid substrates, hair (shampoos), skin (soaps and creams), teeth (mouthwashes, toothpastes, etc.), etc. The terms further refer to any composition that is suited for cleaning, bleaching, disinfecting and/or sterilizing any object and/or surface. It is intended that the terms include, but are not limited to detergent compositions (e.g., laundry and fine fabric detergents), hard surface cleaning formulations (e.g., for glass, wood, ceramics and metal countertops, windows, etc.), oven cleaners, carpet cleaners, fabric fresheners, fabric softeners, hand and machine dish detergents, dish rinse aids, and textile and laundry pre-spotters. In addition, the terms encompass cleaning compositions for use in household and institutional use, including but not limited to liquid cleaning and disinfecting agents, such as anti-bacterial handsoaps and wipes, cleaning bars, mouthwashes, denture cleaners, car shampoos, bathroom cleaners, hair shampoos and conditioners/rinses for humans and other animals, shower gels, foam baths, etc. Indeed, it is not intended that the term be limited to any particular cleaning composition. The terms encompass any materials/compounds selected for the particular type of cleaning compositions desired and the form of the product (e.g., liquid, gel, granule, or spray), as long as the composition is compatible with the fatty alcohol(s) of the present invention. The specific selection of cleaning composition materials are readily made by considering the surface, item or fabric to be cleaned, and the desired form of the composition for the cleaning conditions during use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 1. Thioesterase

According to one embodiment of the invention, a microbial host cell is engineered to express a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”). The thioesterase may be one that preferentially uses C12, C14 or C16 ACPs. Depending on the TE used, a homogenous population of fatty alcohols may be produced. For example, if the TE is one that predominantly uses C12 ACPs then the fatty alcohol composition produced by a recombinant microbial cell according to the invention will predominantly comprise fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of C12.

In some embodiments preferred TEs are those that are classified as TE from the Family TE14 in the ThYme database. These sequences may be downloaded from GenBank and UniProt databases (Nucleic Acid Res 201038:D142-D148).

Some nonlimiting examples of TEs that may be used include the “class I” and “class II” acyl-ACP TE fat genes (e.g. fatA or fatB genes and reference is made to A. Jones et al., 1995, Plant Cell 7:359-371). In particular, FatB are preferred TEs (e.g. plant acyl-ACP TEs) useful in the invention. In some embodiments, the TE may be a bacterial acyl-ACP TE. FatB may be obtained for example from Umbellularia california having Accession number Q41635; and AAA34215; Ulmus Americana having Accession number AAB71731, Cuphea hookeriana Accession numbers Q39513; AAC49269; AAC49269; and AAC72881; Cinnamonum camphorum having Accession number Q39473; AAC49151; and acyl-ACP thioesterases from Cuphea palustris (AAC49179; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,329). Other TEs include without limitation CnFatB (Cocos nucifera, e.g. JF338903; JF338904 and JF338905); ccFAT (Cinnamomum camphora); pdFat (Parabacteroides distasonis, ATCC 8503); gsFat (Geobacillus sp. Y412MC10); pvFAT (Paenibacillus vortex V453); pm FAT (Parabacteroides merdae ATCC 43184); cvFatB (Cuphea viscosissima, JF338906; JF338907; and JF338908); eoFat (Elaeis oleifera) AAD42220 (Elaeis guineensis) and mlFat (Madhuca longofolia var. latifolia).

In some embodiments, homologous or analogous TE genes will be used for the heterologous expression of a TE enzyme.

It is known that different acyl-ACP TE have different degrees of chain length specificity. In some preferred embodiments, the TE useful in the invention is a TE having a preference for cleaving chain lengths of any one of C12, C14 and/or C16 fatty acids from ACP. In some embodiments, having a preference for cleaving chain lengths of any one of C12, C14 and/or C16 fatty acids from ACP means that the thioester hydrolysis will produce fatty acids having at least 85% (such as at least 90%, 93%, 95%, 96% or more) of any one of C12, C14 and/or C16 carbon chain lengths.

In one embodiment, the TE is encoded by a gene comprising the polynucleotide sequence having at least 70% (at least 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95%, 97%, 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 34.

SEQ ID NO: 9 Polynucleotide sequence encoding a thioesterase: ATGACAATGATTACGCCGAGCTCTGAACTCACCCTTACGAAAGGGAATAAAAGCTGGTCATC GACAGCTGTAGCTGCCGCTTTAGAGTGGAAACCAAAACCGAAATTACCTCAGCTTCTTGACG ACCACTTCGGCCTGCATGGTTTAGTATTCCGCAGAACGTTTGCCATAAGAAGCTACGAAGTA GGACCAGATCGTTCTACCTCTATACTTGCTGTGATGAATCATATGCAGGAAGCCACGTTAAA TCACGCAAAGAGCGTCGGGATCCTTGGGGACGGATTCGGCACCACATTGGAAATGAGTAAGC GGGACCTGATGTGGGTTGTTCGTCGTACCCACGTAGCGGTCGAACGGTATCCAACATGGGGC GATACTGTTGAAGTGGAGTGCTGGATTGGCGCTTCCGGAAACAACGGAATGCGCAGAGATTT TCTGGTGCGGGACTGTAAAACTGGGGAAATCTTAACGCGCTGTACCTCCCTGTCCGTTCTGA TGAACACGCGTACCCGGAGATTAAGTACGATTCCGGACGAAGTCCGTGGTGAAATCGGTCCC GCTTTTATTGACAACGTGGCGGTAAAAGACGACGAGATCAAAAAGTTGCAGAAATTGAACGA TTCCACAGCAGATTACATACAGGGCGGTCTTACGCCCCGTTGGAACGACTTGGATGTGAATC AGCACGTAAATAACCTTAAATATGTGGCGTGGGTGTTCGAGACCGTTCCCGACTCTATTTTT GAAAGTCACCACATTTCCAGCTTTACGCTGGAGTACAGACGCGAGTGTACGCGCGATTCCGT TTTACGTTCCCTCACCACGGTGTCTGGCGGATCTTCCGAAGCTGGGTTAGTGTGTGATCACT TGCTGCAACTTGAAGGCGGAAGTGAAGTTCTTCGGGCCCGCACGGAATGGCGTCCCAAACTG ACCGATTCCTTCCGCGGAATATCAGTAATTCCGGCCGAGCCGCGGGTATAA. SEQ ID NO: 10 TE Polypeptide sequence encoded by the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9: MTMITPSSELTLTKGNKSWSSTAVAAALEWKPKPKLPQLLDDHFGLHGLVFRRTFAIRSYEV GPDRSTSILAVMNHMQEATLNHAKSVGILGDGFGTTLEMSKRDLMWVVRRTHVAVERYPTWG DTVEVECWIGASGNNGMRRDFLVRDCKTGEILTRCTSLSVLMNTRTRRLSTIPDEVRGEIGP AFIDNVAVKDDEIKKLQKLNDSTADYIQGGLTPRWNDLDVNQHVNNLKYVAWVFETVPDSIF ESHHISSFTLEYRRECTRDSVLRSLTTVSGGSSEAGLVCDHLLQLEGGSEVLRARTEWRPKL TDSFRGISVIPAEPRV SEQ ID NO: 34 Polynucleotide sequence encoding a thioesterase “BTE”: ATGACCTTAGAGTGGAAACCAAAACCGAAATTACCTCAGCTTCTTGACGACCACTTCGGCCT GCATGGTTTAGTATTCCGCAGAACGTTTGCCATAAGAAGCTACGAAGTAGGACCAGATCGTT CTACCTCTATACTTGCTGTGATGAATCATATGCAGGAAGCCACGTTAAATCACGCAAAGAGC GTCGGGATCCTTGGGGACGGATTCGGCACCACATTGGAAATGAGTAAGCGGGACCTGATGTG GGTTGTTCGTCGTACCCACGTAGCGGTCGAACGGTATCCAACATGGGGCGATACTGTTGAAG TGGAGTGCTGGATTGGCGCTTCCGGAAACAACGGAATGCGCAGAGATTTTCTGGTGCGGGAC TGTAAAACTGGGGAAATCTTAACGCGCTGTACCTCCCTGTCCGTTCTGATGAACACGCGTAC CCGGAGATTAAGTACGATTCCGGACGAAGTCCGTGGTGAAATCGGTCCCGCTTTTATTGACA ACGTGGCGGTAAAAGACGACGAGATCAAAAAGTTGCAGAAATTGAACGATTCCACAGCAGAT TACATACAGGGCGGTCTTACGCCCCGTTGGAACGACTTGGATGTGAATCAGCACGTAAATAA CCTTAAATATGTGGCGTGGGTGTTCGAGACCGTTCCCGACTCTATTTTTGAAAGTCACCACA TTTCCAGCTTTACGCTGGAGTACAGACGCGAGTGTACGCGCGATTCCGTTTTACGTTCCCTC ACCACGGTGTCTGGCGGATCTTCCGAAGCTGGGTTAGTGTGTGATCACTTGCTGCAACTTGA AGGCGGAAGTGAAGTTCTTCGGGCCCGCACGGAATGGCGTCCCAAACTGACCGATTCCTTCC GCGGAATATCAGTAATTCCGGCCGAGCCGCGGGTATAA SEQ ID NO: 35 TE Polypeptide sequence encoded by the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 34: MTLEWKPKPKLPQLLDDHFGLHGLVFRRTFAIRSYEVGPDRSTSILAVMNHMQEATLNHAKS VGILGDGFGTTLEMSKRDLMWVVRRTHVAVERYPTWGDTVEVECWIGASGNNGMRRDFLVRD CKTGEILTRCTSLSVLMNTRTRRLSTIPDEVRGEIGPAFIDNVAVKDDEIKKLQKLNDSTAD YIQGGLTPRWNDLDVNQHVNNLKYVAWVFETVPDSIFESHHISSFTLEYRRECTRDSVLRSL TTVSGGSSEAGLVCDHLLQLEGGSEVLRARTEWRPKLTDSFRGISVIPAEPRV

In some embodiments, the TE enzyme will comprise at least 70% (at least 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95%, 97%, 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35. In some embodiments, the TE gene will comprise at least 85% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 34. In some embodiments, the TE enzyme will comprise at least 85% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35. In some embodiments, the TE gene will comprise at least 97% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 34. In some embodiments, the TE enzyme will comprise at least 97% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35. In some embodiments, the TE gene will comprise at least 99% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 34. In some embodiments, the TE enzyme will comprise at least 99% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35. In some embodiments, the TE gene will comprise the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 9 or SEQ ID NO: 34. In some embodiments, the TE enzyme will comprise the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 34. In some embodiments the gene encoding the TE enzyme is derived from Umbelluria californica (California Bay “CaBay” or “BTE”) and in other embodiments the gene encoding the TE enzyme is derived from Cinnamomum camphorum.

In some embodiments, the TE enzyme will be a functional fragment of a native TE, such as a TE having deletions at the N-terminal amino acid positions. In certain embodiments, the functional fragment will comprise at least 90% (at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 97% and at least 99%) of the reference enzyme. In certain embodiments, the functional fragment will include a deletion of at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or more amino acid residues. In some embodiments, the TE is a variant enzyme having at least 1, at least 5, at least 10, at least 15 or more amino acid modifications, such as substitutions. Non-limiting examples include the TE FatB genes from California Bay, Cinnamomun camphora, or from various Cuphea species such as those disclosed in WO 2011/008565 and reference is made to SEQ ID NOs. 21, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 66, 70, 72, 76, 80, 82, 86, 90, 92, 94, 96 and 100 described therein.

Further acyl-ACP TEs that are useful according to the invention are described in the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,771; U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,482; U.S. Pat. No. 6,150,512; U.S. Pat. No. 5,723,761; U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,631 and WO2010/075483.

Various assays are known which can be used to test for TE activity in a recombinant microorganism transformed with a vector comprising a polynucleotide encoding a TE according to the invention (See, Voelker and Davies, 1994, J. Bacteriol. 76:7320).

2. Acyl-CoA Synthetase

As described above, the term “acyl-CoA synthetase” is used synonymously with ACS or acyl-CoA synthetase or FadD. These enzymes mediate the formation of acyl-CoA esters (See, FIG. 1). According to an embodiment of the invention, a microbial host cell is engineered to express a recombinant ACS. ACS that can be expressed to produce acyl-CoA includes the E. coli fadD gene comprising the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7 which encodes the ACS comprising the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8.

SEQ ID NO: 7 Polynucleotide sequence of E. coli fadD: ATGAAGAAGGTTTGGCTTAACCGTTATCCCGCGGACGTTCCGACGGAGATCAACCCTGACCG TTATCAATCTCTGGTAGATATGTTTGAGCAGTCGGTCGCGCGCTACGCCGATCAACCTGCGT TTGTGAATATGGGGGAGGTAATGACCTTCCGCAAGCTGGAAGAACGCAGTCGCGCGTTTGCC GCTTATTTGCAACAAGGGTTGGGGCTGAAGAAAGGCGATCGCGTTGCGTTGATGATGCCTAA TTTATTGCAATATCCGGTGGCGCTGTTTGGCATTTTGCGTGCCGGGATGATCGTCGTAAACG TTAACCCGTTGTATACCCCGCGTGAGCTTGAGCATCAGCTTAACGATAGCGGCGCATCGGCG ATTGTTATCGTGTCTAACTTTGCTCACACACTGGAAAAAGTGGTTGATAAAACCGCCGTTCA GCACGTAATTCTGACCCGTATGGGCGATCAGCTATCTACGGCAAAAGGCACGGTAGTCAATT TCGTTGTTAAATACATCAAGCGTTTGGTGCCGAAATACCATCTGCCAGATGCCATTTCATTT CGTAGCGCACTGCATAACGGCTACCGGATGCAGTACGTCAAACCCGAACTGGTGCCGGAAGA TTTAGCTTTTCTGCAATACACCGGCGGCACCACTGGTGTGGCGAAAGGCGCGATGCTGACTC ACCGCAATATGCTGGCGAACCTGGAACAGGTTAACGCGACCTATGGTCCGCTGTTGCATCCG GGCAAAGAGCTGGTGGTGACGGCGCTGCCGCTGTATCACATTTTTGCCCTGACCATTAACTG CCTGCTGTTTATCGAACTGGGTGGGCAGAACCTGCTTATCACTAACCCGCGCGATATTCCAG GGTTGGTAAAAGAGTTAGCGAAATATCCGTTTACCGCTATCACGGGCGTTAACACCTTGTTC AATGCGTTGCTGAACAATAAAGAGTTCCAGCAGCTGGATTTCTCCAGTCTGCATCTTTCCGC AGGCGGTGGGATGCCAGTGCAGCAAGTGGTGGCAGAGCGTTGGGTGAAACTGACCGGACAGT ATCTGCTGGAAGGCTATGGCCTTACCGAGTGTGCGCCGCTGGTCAGCGTTAACCCATATGAT ATTGATTATCATAGTGGTAGCATCGGTTTGCCGGTGCCGTCGACGGAAGCCAAACTGGTGGA TGATGATGATAATGAAGTACCACCAGGTCAACCGGGTGAGCTTTGTGTCAAAGGACCGCAGG TGATGCTGGGTTACTGGCAGCGTCCCGATGCTACCGATGAAATCATCAAAAATGGCTGGTTA CACACCGGCGACATCGCGGTAATGGATGAAGAAGGATTCCTGCGCATTGTCGATCGTAAAAA AGACATGATTCTGGTTTCCGGTTTTAACGTCTATCCCAACGAGATTGAAGATGTCGTCATGC AGCATCCTGGCGTACAGGAAGTCGCGGCTGTTGGCGTACCTTCCGGCTCCAGTGGTGAAGCG GTGAAAATCTTCGTAGTGAAAAAAGATCCATCGCTTACCGAAGAGTCACTGGTGACTTTTTG CCGCCGTCAGCTCACGGGATACAAAGTACCGAAGCTGGTGGAGTTTCGTGATGAGTTACCGA AATCTAACGTCGGAAAAATTTTGCGACGAGAATTACGTGACGAAGCGCGCGGCAAAGTGGAC AATAAAGCCTAA SEQ ID NO: 8 Polypeptide sequence of acyl-CoA synthetase encoded by the fadD polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7: MKKVWLNRYPADVPTEINPDRYQSLVDMFEQSVARYADQPAFVNMGEVMTFRKLEERSRAFA AYLQQGLGLKKGDRVALMMPNLLQYPVALFGILRAGMIVVNVNPLYTPRELEHQLNDSGASA IVIVSNFAHTLEKVVDKTAVQHVILTRMGDQLSTAKGTVVNFVVKYIKRLVPKYHLPDAISF RSALHNGYRMQYVKPELVPEDLAFLQYTGGTTGVAKGAMLTHRNMLANLEQVNATYGPLLHP GKELVVTALPLYHIFALTINCLLFIELGGQNLLITNPRDIPGLVKELAKYPFTAITGVNTLF NALLNNKEFQQLDFSSLHLSAGGGMPVQQVVAERWVKLTGQYLLEGYGLTECAPLVSVNPYD IDYHSGSIGLPVPSTEAKLVDDDDNEVPPGQPGELCVKGPQVMLGYWQRPDATDEIIKNGWL HTGDIAVMDEEGFLRIVDRKKDMILVSGFNVYPNEIEDVVMQHPGVQEVAAVGVPSGSSGEA VKIFVVKKDPSLTEESLVTFCRRQLTGYKVPKLVEFRDELPKSNVGKILRRELRDEARGKVD NKA

In some embodiments, the fadD gene will comprise at least 70%, (at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 97%, at least 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7. In some embodiments, the ACS enzyme will comprise at least 70%, (at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 97%, at least 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8. In some embodiments, the fadD gene will comprise at least 85% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7. In some embodiments, the ACS enzyme will comprise at least 85% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8. In some embodiments, the fadD gene will comprise at least 97% sequence identity to the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7. In some embodiments, the ACS enzyme will comprise at least 97% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8. In some embodiments, the fadD gene will comprise the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 7. In some embodiments, the ACS enzyme will comprise the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8.

In some embodiments, fadD encodes an ACS variant enzyme having at least 1, at least 5, at least 10, at least 15 or more amino acid modifications, such as substitutions. Non-limiting examples include modifications to the gene encoding the ACS of SEQ ID NO: 8.

In some embodiments, homologous fadD genes will be used for the heterologous expression of an ACS enzyme to produce acyl-CoAs. These fadD genes include without limitation, fadD from Acinetobacter sp. NCBI ID YP_(—)045024; fadD from Haemophilus influenza NCBI ID NP_(—)438551; fadD from Pseudomonas aeruginosa NCBI ID_(—)251989 and 251990; BH3101 from Bacillus halodurans NP_(—)243969; yhfL from Bacillus subtilis NP_(—)388908; and fadD from Rhizobium etli CFN NCBI ID_(—) 533919; fadD from Marinobacter algicola ZP_(—)01892995; fadD from Marinobacter aquaeolei YP_(—)958864; fadD from Mycobacterium tuberculosis NP_(—)215722; fadD15 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis NP_(—)216703; fadD19 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis YP_(—)177983; fadD from Rhodopseudomonas palustris YP_(—)00993712; fadD from Pseudomonas fluorscens PfO-1 YP_(—)350081; fadD from Pseudomonas putida ACC77300; fadK from E. coli strain W ZP_(—)07590374; putative fadK from Salmonella typhimurium LT2 NP_(—)460316; and putative fadK from Thermomonospora fusca YP_(—)290214.

3. FAR Enzymes and Polynucleotides

The engineered bacterial cells encompassed by the invention are modified to express a polynucleotide encoding a heterologous FAR. Polynucleotides encoding FAR enzymes are known in the art (See e.g., WO2011/008535; WO2011/019858; U.S. Ser. No. 13/171,138, US2010/02036; U.S. Pat. No. 7,332,311; U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,538 and Metz et al., 2000. Plant Physiol. 122:635-644).

In some embodiments the acyl-CoA is reduced to a fatty alcohol in a two-step process. An NAD(P)H dependent acyl-CoA reductase converts an acyl-CoA to a fatty aldehyde and then the fatty aldehyde is reduced to a fatty alcohol by a NAD(P)H dependent alcohol dehydrogenase. Enzymes involved in this two-step conversion include the enzymes Acr1 and YqhD. (See, Reiser and Somerville, J. Bacteriol. (1997) 179:2969; Ishige et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. (2000) 66:3481; Hofrander et al. (2011) FEBS Letters 585:3538-3543 and Kalscheuer et al., 2006, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:1373).

Preferred fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductases (FARs) useful in the present invention catalyze the direct reduction of acyl-CoA and/or acyl-ACP substrates to fatty alcohols wherein free fatty aldehydes are essentially not released as an intermediate. Essentially these FARs reduce acyl chains to fatty alcohols by one enzymatic step. Depending on the substrate chain length it is possible to have trace amounts of aldehydes produced and released. In the direct reduction process, FAR converts at least acyl-ACP substrates to a fatty alcohol end-product without the subsequent action of an alcohol dehydrogenase.

In some embodiments, the FAR is a prokaryotic enzyme. In some embodiments the FAR is derived from a species of Marinobacter including, but not limited to, M. algicola, M. alkaliphilus, M. aquaeolei, M. arcticus, M. bryozoorum, M. daepoensis, M. excellens, M. flavimaris, M. guadonensis, M. hydrocarbonoclasticus, M. koreenis, M. lipolyticus, M. litoralis, M. lutaoensis, M. maritimus, M. sediminum, M. squalenivirans, and M. vinifirmus, and equivalent and synonymous species thereof.

In certain embodiments, the FAR is derived from M. algicola strain DG893 and has an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70% identical, at least about 75%, at least about 80% identical, at least about 85% identical, at least about 90% identical, at least about 93% identical at least about 95% identical, at least about 97% identical, at least about 98% identical and/or at least about 99% identical to SEQ ID NO:2 and/or a functional fragment thereof. In another embodiment, the FAR enzyme has an amino acid sequence that is identical to SEQ ID NO:2. In certain embodiments, the FAR is a variant of the wild-type FAR of SEQ ID NO:2 for example a FAR having at least 90%, (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39. In some embodiments, the variant FAR is FAR-V1 comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4. In some embodiments, the variant FAR is FAR-V2 comprising the amino acids sequence of SEQ ID NO: 6. In some embodiments, the variant FAR is FAR-V3 comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 37. In some embodiments the variant FAR is FAR-V4 comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 39. In some embodiments, the FAR variants will have at least 1, at least 2, at least 3, at least 4, at least 5, at least 6, at least 7, at least 8, at least 9, at least 10, at least 12, at least 14, at least 16, at least 18, at least 20 or more amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions, deletions and/or insertions) relative to SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39.

SEQ ID NO: 1 Polynucleotide sequence of a codon optimized FAR from Marinobacter algicola DG893: ATGGCTACTCAACAACAACAGAACGGTGCATCTGCATCCGGCGTCTTGGAACAACTTCGTGG AAAGCACGTTCTTATCACAGGTACTACCGGATTTTTGGGCAAAGTGGTTCTGGAAAAGTTGA TTCGTACTGTTCCGGATATTGGAGGTATTCATCTGCTGATTCGTGGCAATAAACGTCATCCA GCCGCTCGTGAACGTTTCCTGAACGAAATTGCGTCCTCCTCCGTCTTCGAACGTTTGCGTCA CGATGATAATGAAGCCTTCGAGACCTTCTTGGAAGAACGTGTTCACTGTATTACCGGTGAGG TTACTGAATCCCGTTTTGGTTTGACACCTGAACGTTTTCGTGCTTTGGCCGGTCAGGTTGAC GCTTTTATTAACAGCGCTGCAAGCGTGAACTTTCGTGAGGAATTGGATAAAGCCCTGAAAAT CAACACCTTGTGTCTTGAAAATGTTGCTGCTCTTGCAGAATTGAACTCCGCTATGGCGGTCA TTCAGGTTTCCACTTGTTACGTTAACGGTAAAAACTCCGGTCAAATTACCGAATCCGTCATT AAACCTGCTGGCGAATCCATTCCCCGTTCCACTGACGGTTACTACGAGATCGAAGAATTGGT CCATCTGTTGCAAGACAAGATTTCCGATGTTAAAGCTCGTTACTCCGGCAAAGTTCTGGAGA AAAAATTGGTTGATTTGGGTATTCGTGAGGCCAATAATTACGGATGGTCCGACACCTACACA TTCACCAAATGGTTGGGTGAACAACTGCTGATGAAGGCCTTGTCTGGTCGTTCTTTGACTAT TGTGCGTCCCTCTATTATTGAGTCCGCTTTGGAAGAACCTTCCCCTGGTTGGATCGAAGGCG TTAAAGTTGCCGATGCCATTATCTTGGCTTATGCCCGTGAAAAAGTTAGCCTGTTCCCTGGA AAACGTTCCGGCATTATTGATGTTATTCCTGTCGATTTGGTTGCGAACTCCATCATCTTGTC TCTGGCTGAGGCGTTGTCTGGTTCTGGTCAACGTCGTATTTATCAATGTTGCAGCGGTGGTT CTAATCCAATCTCCCTGGGTAAGTTCATTGATTATTTGATGGCCGAGGCTAAGACCAACTAT GCTGCCTACGATCAACTGTTTTATCGTCGTCCTACTAAACCTTTCGTCGCCGTGAACCGTAA ATTGTTTGACGTTGTTGTTGGTGGTATGCGTGTTCCTCTTTCTATTGCCGGTAAAGCTATGC GTTTGGCTGGTCAAAATCGTGAGTTGAAAGTGCTTAAGAACCTTGATACGACCCGTTCCCTT GCAACCATTTTTGGCTTCTATACTGCTCCCGACTATATCTTCCGTAACGATAGCTTGATGGC CCTGGCTTCTCGTATGGGTGAATTGGATCGTGTTCTTTTCCCAGTTGATGCTCGTCAAATTG ATTGGCAGTTGTACTTGTGTAAAATTCATTTGGGTGGTCTGAACCGTTACGCTTTGAAGGAA CGTAAACTGTATTCTTTGCGTGCTGCTGATACTCGTAAAAAAGCTGCCTAA SEQ ID NO: 2 FAR polypeptide sequence encoded by the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1: MATQQQQNGASASGVLEQLRGKHVLITGTTGFLGKVVLEKLIRTVPDIGGIHLLIRGNKRHP AARERFLNEIASSSVFERLRHDDNEAFETFLEERVHCITGEVTESRFGLTPERFRALAGQVD AFINSAASVNFREELDKALKINTLCLENVAALAELNSAMAVIQVSTCYVNGKNSGQITESVI KPAGESIPRSTDGYYEIEELVHLLQDKISDVKARYSGKVLEKKLVDLGIREANNYGWSDTYT FTKWLGEQLLMKALSGRSLTIVRPSIIESALEEPSPGWIEGVKVADAIILAYAREKVSLFPG KRSGIIDVIPVDLVANSIILSLAEALSGSGQRRIYQCCSGGSNPISLGKFIDYLMAEAKTNY AAYDQLFYRRPTKPFVAVNRKLFDVVVGGMRVPLSIAGKAMRLAGQNRELKVLKNLDTTRSL ATIFGFYTAPDYIFRNDSLMALASRMGELDRVLFPVDARQIDWQLYLCKIHLGGLNRYALKE RKLYSLRAADTRKKAA SEQ ID NO: 3 Polynucleotide Sequence of the nucleic acid encoding FAR-V1: CCATGGCGACTCAACAACAGCAGAACGGTGCATCTGCATCCGGCGTCTTGGAACAACTTCGT GGAAAGCACGTTCTTATCACAGGTACTACCGGATTTTTGGGCAAAGTGGTTCTGGAAAAGTT GATTCGTACTGTTCCGGATATTGGAGGTATTCATCTGCTGATTCGTGGCAATAAACGTCATC CAGCCGCTCGTGAACGTTTCCTGAACGAAATTGCGTCCTCCTCCGTCTTCGAACGTTTGCGT CACGATGATAATGAAGCCTTCGAGACCTTCTTGGAAGAACGTGTTCACTGTATTACCGGTGA GGTTACTGAATCCCGTTTTGGTTTGACACCTGAGCGTTTTCGTGCTTTGGCCGGTCAGGTTG ACGCTTTTATTAACAGCGCTGCAAGCGTGAGTTTTCGTGAGCAATTGGATAAAGCCCTGAAA ATCAACACCTTGTGTCTTGAAAATGTTGCTGCTCTTGCAGAATTGAACTCCGCTATGGCGGT CATTCAGGTTTCCACTTGTTACGTTAACGGTAAAAACTCCGGTCAAATTACCGAATCCGTCA TTAAATCGGCTGGCGAATCCATTCCCCGTTCCACTGACGGTTACTACGAGATCGAAGAATTG GTCCATCTGTTGCAAGACAAGATTTCCGATGTTAAAGCTCGTTACTCCGGCAAAGTTCTGGA GAAAAAATTGGTTGATTTGGGTATTCGTGAGGCCAATAATTACGGATGGTCCGACACCTACA CATTCACCAAATGGTTGGGTGAACAACTGCTGATGAAGGCCTTGTCTGGTCGTTCTTTGACT ATTGTGCGTCCCTCTATTATTGAGTCCGCTTTGGAAGAACCTTCCCCTGGTTGGATCGAAGG CGTTAAAGTTGCCGATGCCATTATCTTGGCTTATGCCCGTGAAAAAGTTAGCCTGTTCCCTG GAAAACGTTCCGGCATTATTGATGTTATTCCTGTCGATTTGGTTGCGAACTCCATCATCTTG TCTCTGGCTGAGGCGTTGTCTGGTTCTGGTCAACGTCGTATTTATCAATGTTGCAGCGGTGG TTCTAATCCAATCTCCCTGGGTAAGTTCATTGATTATTTGATGGCCGAGGCTAAGACCAACT ATGCTGCCTACGATCAACTGTTTTATCGTCGTCCTACTAAACCTTTCGTCGCCGTGAACCGT AAATTGTTTGACGTTGTTGTTGGTGGTATGCGTGTTGTCCTTTCTATTGCCGGTAAAGCTAT GCGTTTGGCTGGTGTAAATCGTGAGTTGAAAGTGCTTAAGAACCTTGATACGACCCGTAAAC TTGCAACCATTTTTGGCTTCTATACTGCTCCCGACTATATCTTCCGTAACGATAGCTTGATG GCCCTGGCTCAGCGTATGGGTGAATTGGATCGTGTTCTTTTCCCAGTTGATGCTCGTCAAAT TGATTGGCAGTTGTACTTGTGTAAAATTCATTTGGGTGGTCTGAACCGTTACGCTTTGAAGG AACGTAAACTGTATTCTTCGCGTGCTGCTGATACTGACGATAAAACCGCCTAAGTCGAC SEQ ID NO: 4 FAR-V1 polypeptide sequence encoded by the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3: MATQQQQNGASASGVLEQLRGKHVLITGTTGFLGKVVLEKLIRTVPDIGGIHLLIRGNKRHP AARERFLNEIASSSVFERLRHDDNEAFETFLEERVHCITGEVTESRFGLTPERFRALAGQVD AFINSAASVSFREQLDKALKINTLCLENVAALAELNSAMAVIQVSTCYVNGKNSGQITESVI KSAGESIPRSTDGYYEIEELVHLLQDKISDVKARYSGKVLEKKLVDLGIREANNYGWSDTYT FTKWLGEQLLMKALSGRSLTIVRPSIIESALEEPSPGWIEGVKVADAIILAYAREKVSLFPG KRSGIIDVIPVDLVANSIILSLAEALSGSGQRRIYQCCSGGSNPISLGKFIDYLMAEAKTNY AAYDQLFYRRPTKPFVAVNRKLFDVVVGGMRVVLSIAGKAMRLAGVNRELKVLKNLDTTRKL ATIFGFYTAPDYIFRNDSLMALAQRMGELDRVLFPVDARQIDWQLYLCKIHLGGLNRYALKE RKLYSSRAADTDDKTA SEQ ID NO: 5 Polynucleotide sequence of the nucleic acid encoding FAR-V2: ATGGCGACTCAACAACAGAACAACGGTGCATCTGCATCCGGCGTCTTGGAAATTCTTCGTGG AAAGCACGTTCTTATCACAGGTACTACCGGATTTTTGGGCAAAGTGGTTCTGGAAAAGTTGA TTCGTACTGTTCCGGATATTGGAGGTATTCATCTGCTGATTCGTGGCAATAAACGTCATCCA GCCGCTGGCGAACGTTTCCTGAACGAAATTGCGTCCTCCTCCGTCTTCGAACGTTTGCGTCA CGATGATAATGAAGCCTTCGAGACCTTCTTGGAAGAACGTGTTCACTGTATTACCGGTGAGG TTACTGAATCCCGTTTTGGTTTGACACCTGAGCGTTTTCGTGCTTTGGCCGGTCAGGTTGAC GCTTTTATTCATAGCGCTGCAAGCGTGAACTTTCGTGAGCAATTGGATAAAGCCCTGAAAAT CAACACCTTGTGTCTTGAAAATGTTGCTGCTCTTGCAGAATTGAACTCCGCTATGGCGGTCA TTCAGGTTTCCACTTGTTACGTTAACGGTAAAACCTCCGGTCAAATTACCGAATCCGTCATT AAATCGGCTGGCGAATCCATTCCCCGTTCCACTGACGGTTACTACGAGATCGAAGAATTGGT CCATCTGTTGCAAGACAAGATTTCCGATGTTAAAGCTCGTTACTCCGGCCGTGTTATGGGGA AAAAATTGGTTGATTTGGGTATTCGTGAGGCCAATAATTACGGATGGTCCGACACCTACACA TTCACCAAATGGTTGGGTGAACAACTGCTGATGAAGGCCTTGTCTGGTCGTTCTTTGACTAT TGTGCGTCCCTCTATTATTGAGTCCGCTTTGGAAGAACCTTCCCCTGGTTGGATCGAAGGCG TTAAAGTTGCCGATGCCATTATCTTGGCTTATGCCCGTGAAAAAGTTAGCCTGTTCCCTGGA AAACGTTCCGGCATTATTGATGTTATTCCTGTCGATTTGGTTGCGAACTCCATCATCTTGTC TCTGGCTGAGGCGTTGTCTGGTTCTGGTCAACGTCGTATTTATCAATGTTGCAGCGGTGGTT CTAATCCAATCTCCCTGGGTAAGTTCATTGATTATTTGAACGCCGAGGCTAAGACCAACTAT GCTGCCTACGATCAACTGTTTTATCGTCGTCCTACTAAACCTTTCGTCGCCGTGAACCGTAA ATTGTTTGACGTTGTTGTTGGTGTCATGCGTGTTGTCCTTTCTATTGCCGGTAAAGCTATGC GTTTGGCTGGTGTAAATCGTGAGTTGAAAGTGCTTAAGAACCTTGATACGACCCGTAAACTT GCAACCATTTTTGGCTTCTATACTGCTCCCGACTATATCTTCCGTAACGATAGCTTGATGGC CCTGGCTCAGCGTATGGGTGAATTGGATCGTGTTCTTTTCCCAGTTGATGCTCGTCAAATTG ATTGGCAGTTGTACTTGTGTAAAATTCATTTGCGTGGTCTGAACCGTTACGCTTTGAAGGAA CGTAAACTGTATTCTTCGCGTGCTGCTGATACTGACGATAAAACCGCCTAA SEQ ID NO: 6 FAR-V2 polypeptide sequence encoded by the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5: MATQQQNNGASASGVLEILRGKHVLITGTTGFLGKVVLEKLIRTVPDIGGIHLLIRGNKRHP AAGERFLNEIASSSVFERLRHDDNEAFETFLEERVHCITGEVTESRFGLTPERFRALAGQVD AFIHSAASVNFREQLDKALKINTLCLENVAALAELNSAMAVIQVSTCYVNGKTSGQITESVI KSAGESIPRSTDGYYEIEELVHLLQDKISDVKARYSGRVMGKKLVDLGIREANNYGWSDTYT FTKWLGEQLLMKALSGRSLTIVRPSIIESALEEPSPGWIEGVKVADAIILAYAREKVSLFPG KRSGIIDVIPVDLVANSIILSLAEALSGSGQRRIYQCCSGGSNPISLGKFIDYLNAEAKTNY AAYDQLFYRRPTKPFVAVNRKLFDVVVGVMRVVLSIAGKAMRLAGVNRELKVLKNLDTTRKL ATIFGFYTAPDYIFRNDSLMALAQRMGELDRVLFPVDARQIDWQLYLCKIHLRGLNRYALKE RKLYSSRAADTDDKTA SEQ ID NO: 36 Polynucleotide sequence encoding the FAR-V3 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 37: ATGGCGACTCAACAACAGAACAACGGTGCATCTGCATCCGGCGTCTTGGAAATTCTTCGTGG AAAGCACGTTCTTATCACAGGTACTACCGGATTTTTGGGCAAAGTGGTTCTGGAAAAGTTGA TTCGTACTGTTCCGGATATTGGAGGTATTCATCTGCTGATTCGTGGCAATAAACGTCATCCA GCCGCTCGCGAACGTTTCCTGAACGAAATTGCGTCCTCCTCCGTCTTCGAACGTTTGCGTCA CGATGATAATGAAGCCTTCGAGACCTTCTTGGAAGAACGTGTTCACTGTATTACCGGTGAGA TTACTGAATCCCGTTTTGGTTTGACACCTGAGCGTTTTCGTGCTTTGGCCGGTCAGGTTGAC GCTTTTATTCATAGCGCTGCAAGCGTGAACTTTCGTGAGCAATTGGATAAAGCCCTGAAAAT CAACACCTTGTGTCTTGAAAATGTTGCTGCTCTTGCAGAATTGAACTCCGCTATGGCGGTCA TTCAGGTTTCCACTTGTTACGTTAACGGTAAAACCTCCGGTCAAATTACCGAATCCGTCATT AAATCGGCTGGCGAATCCATTCCCCGTTCCACTGACGGTTACTACGAGATCGAAGAATTGGT CCATCTGTTGCAAGACAAGATTTCCGATGTTAAAGCTCGTTACTCCGGCCGTGTTATGGGGA AAAAATTGGTTGATTTGGGTATTCGTGAGGCCAATAATTACGGATGGTCCGACACCTACACA TTCACCAAATGGTTGGGTGAACAACTGCTGATGAAGGCCTTGTCTGGTCGTTCTTTGACTAT TGTGCGTCCCTCTATTATTGAGTCCGCTTTGGAAGAACCTTCCCCTGGTTGGATCGAAGGCG TTAAAGTTGCCGATGCCATTATCTTGGCTTATGCCCGTGAAAAAGTTAGCCTGTTCCCTGGA AAACGTTCCGGCATTATTGATGTTATTCCTGTCGATTTGGTTGCGAACTCCATCATCTTGTC TCTGGCTGAGGCGTTGTCTGGTTCTGGTCAACGTCGTATTTATCAATGTTGCAGCGGTGGTT CTAATCCAATCTCCCTGGGTAAGTTCATTGATTATTTGAACGCCGAGGCTAAGACCAACTAT GCTGCCTACGATCAACTGTTTTATCGTCGTCCTACTAAACCTTTCGTCGCCGTGAACCGTAA ATTGTTTGACGTTGTTGTTGGTGTCATGCGTGTTGTCCTTTCTATTGCCCGCAAAGCTATGC GTTTGGCTGGTGTAAATCGTGAGTTGAAAGTGCTTAAGAACCTTGATACGACCCGTAAACTT GCAACCATTTTTGGCTTCTATACTGCTCCCGACTATATCTTCCGTAACGATAGCTTGATGGC CCTGGCTCAGCGTATGGGTGAATTGGATCGTGTTCTTTTCCCAGTTGATGCTCGTCAAATTG ATTGGCAGTTGTACTTGTGTAAAATTCATTTGCGTGGTCTGAACCGTTACGCTTTGAAGGAA CGTAAACTGTATTCTTCGCGTGCTGCTGATACTGACGATAAAACCGCCTAA SEQ ID NO: 37 Polypeptide sequence of FAR-V3: MATQQQNNGASASGVLEILRGKHVLITGTTGFLGKVVLEKLIRTVPDIGGIHLLIRGNKRHP AARERFLNEIASSSVFERLRHDDNEAFETFLEERVHCITGEITESRFGLTPERFRALAGQVD AFIHSAASVNFREQLDKALKINTLCLENVAALAELNSAMAVIQVSTCYVNGKTSGQITESVI KSAGESIPRSTDGYYEIEELVHLLQDKISDVKARYSGRVMGKKLVDLGIREANNYGWSDTYT FTKWLGEQLLMKALSGRSLTIVRPSIIESALEEPSPGWIEGVKVADAIILAYAREKVSLFPG KRSGIIDVIPVDLVANSIILSLAEALSGSGQRRIYQCCSGGSNPISLGKFIDYLNAEAKTNY AAYDQLFYRRPTKPFVAVNRKLFDVVVGVMRVVLSIARKAMRLAGVNRELKVLKNLDTTRKL ATIFGFYTAPDYIFRNDSLMALAQRMGELDRVLFPVDARQIDWQLYLCKIHLRGLNRYALKE RKLYSSRAADTDDKTA SEQ ID NO: 38 Polynucleotide sequence encoding the FAR-V4 amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 39: ATGGCGACTTATCAACGTAACAACGGTGCATCTGCATCCGGCGTCTTGGAAATTCTTCGTGG AAAGCACGTTCTTATCACAGGTACTACCGGATTTTTGGGCAAAGTGGTTCTGGAAAAGTTGA TTCGTACTGTTCCGGATATTGGAGGTATTCATCTGCTGATTCGTGGCAATAAACGTCATCAG GCCGCTCGCGAACGTTTCCTGAACGAAATTGCGTCCTCCTCCGTCTTCGAACGTTTGCGTCA CGATGATAATGAAGCCTTCGAGACCTTCTTGGAAGAACGTGTTCACTGTATTACCGGTGAGA TTACTGAATCCCATTTTGGTTTGACACCTGAGCGTTTTCGTGCTTTGGCCGGTCAGGTTGAC GCTTTTATTCATAGCGCTGCAAGCGTGAACTTTCGTGAGCAATTGGATAAAGCCCTGAAAAT CAACACCTTGTGTCTTGAAAATGTTGCTGCACTTGCAGAATTGAACTCCGCTATGGCGGTCA TTCAGGTTTCCACTTGTTACGTTAACGGTAAAACCTCCGGTCAAATTACCGAATCCGTCATT AAATCGGCTGGCGAATCCATTCCCCGTTCCACTGACGGTTACTACGAGATCGAAGAATTGGT CCATCTGTTGCAAGACAAGATTTCCGATGTTAAAGCTCGTTACTCCGGCCGTGTTATGGGGA AAAAATTGGTTGATTTGGGTATTCGTGAGGCCAATAATTACGGATGGTCCGACACCTACACA TTCACCAAATGGTTGGGTGAACAACTGCTGATGAAGGCCTTGTCTGGTCGTTCTTTGACTAT TGTGCGTCCCTCTATTATTGAGTCCGCTTTGGAAGAACCTTCCCCTGGTTGGATCGAAGGCG TTAAAGTTGCCGATGCCATTATCTTGGCTTATGCCCGTGAAAAAGTTAGCCTGTTCCCTGGA AAACGTTCCGGCATTCTGGATTTTATTCCTGTCGATTTGGTTGCGAACTCCATCATCTTGTC TCTGGCTGAGGCGTTGTCTGGTTCTGGTCAACGTCGTATTTATCAATGTTGCAGCGGTGGTT CTAATCCACTGTCCCTGGGTAAGTTCTTTGATTATTTGAACGCCGAGGCTAAGACCAACTAT GCTGCCTACGATCAACTGTTTTATCGTCGTCCTACTAAACCTTTCGTCGCCGTGAACCGTAA ATTGTTTGACGTTGTTGTTGGTGTCATGCGTGTTGTCCTTTCTATTGCCCATAAAGCTATGC GTTTGGCTGGTGTAAATCGTGAGTTGAAAGTGCTTAAGAACCTTGATACGACCCGTAAACTT GCAACCATTTTTGGCTTCTATACTGCTCCCGACTATATCTTCCGTAACGATAGCTTGATGGC CCTGGCTCAGCGTATGGGTGAATTGGATCGTGTTCTTTTCCCAGTTGATGCTCGTCAAATTG ATTGGCAGTTGTACTTGTGTAAAATTCATTTGCGTGGTCTGAACCGTTACGCTTTGAAGGGC CGTAAACTGTATTCTTCGCGTGCTGCTGATCATGACGATGAAATTGCCTAA SEQ ID NO: 39 Polypeptide sequence of FAR-V4: MATYQRNNGASASGVLEILRGKHVLITGTTGFLGKVVLEKLIRTVPDIGGIHLLIRGNKRHQ AARERFLNEIASSSVFERLRHDDNEAFETFLEERVHCITGEITESHFGLTPERFRALAGQVD AFIHSAASVNFREQLDKALKINTLCLENVAALAELNSAMAVIQVSTCYVNGKTSGQITESVI KSAGESIPRSTDGYYEIEELVHLLQDKISDVKARYSGRVMGKKLVDLGIREANNYGWSDTYT FTKWLGEQLLMKALSGRSLTIVRPSIIESALEEPSPGWIEGVKVADAIILAYAREKVSLFPG KRSGILDFIPVDLVANSIILSLAEALSGSGQRRIYQCCSGGSNPLSLGKFFDYLNAEAKTNY AAYDQLFYRRPTKPFVAVNRKLFDVVVGVMRVVLSIAHKAMRLAGVNRELKVLKNLDTTRKL ATIFGFYTAPDYIFRNDSLMALAQRMGELDRVLFPVDARQIDWQLYLCKIHLRGLNRYALKG RKLYSSRAADHDDEIA

In certain embodiments, the FAR is derived from Marinobacter aquaeolei and has an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70% identical, at least about 75%, at least about 80% identical, at least about 85% identical, at least about 90% identical, at least about 93% identical, at least about 95% identical, at least about 97% identical, at least about 98% identical and/or at least about 99% identical to SEQ ID NO: 5 as disclosed in WO 2012/006114 and/or a functional fragment thereof. In another specific embodiment, the FAR enzyme has an amino acid sequence that is identical to SEQ ID NO: 5. In certain embodiments, the FAR is a variant of the wild-type FAR of SEQ ID NO:5 that has at least 1, at least 2, at least 3, at least 4, at least 5, at least 6, at least 7, at least 8, at least 9, at least 10, at least 12, at least 14, at least 16, at least 18, at least 20, or more amino acid alterations (e.g., substitutions, deletions and/or insertions) relative to SEQ ID NO:5. In certain embodiments, the FAR is encoded by a polynucleotide sequence having at least 85% (at least 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:4 as disclosed in WO 2012/006114.

In certain embodiments, the FAR is obtained from a marine bacterium selected from the group of Neptuniibacter caesariensis strain MED92 (also referred to as Neptunibacterin some publications), Reinekea sp. strain MED297, Marinomonas sp. strain MED121, unnamed gammaproteobacterium strain HTCC2207, and Marinobacter sp. strain ELB17, as well as equivalents and synonymous species thereof. In certain embodiments, the FAR is obtained from the genus Oceanobacter. In some embodiments, the FAR is obtained from the Oceanobacter species strain RED65 (e.g. NCBI accession number ZP_(—)01305629) and has an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70% identical, at least about 75% identical, at least about 80% identical, at least about 85% identical, at least about 90% identical, at least about 93% identical, at least about 95% identical, at least about 97% identical, at least about 98% identical and/or at least about 99% identical to SEQ ID NOs:6 and/or 8 as disclosed in WO 2011/008535.

In various embodiments, the FAR is encoded by a polynucleotide selected from the group of FAR_Hch (Hahella chejuensis KCTC 2396 GenBank YP_(—)436183); FAR_Mac (from marine Actinobacterium strain PHSC20C1); FAR_JVC (JCVI_ORF_(—)1096697648832, GenBank Accession No. EDD40059.1); FAR_Fer (JCVI_SCAF_(—)1101670217388); FAR_Key (JCVI_SCAF_(—)1097205236585; FAR_Gal (JCVI_SCAF_(—)1101670289386); Vitis vinifera FAR (GenBank Accession No. CAO22305.1 or CAO67776.1); Desulfatibacillum alkenivorans FAR (GenBank Accession No. NZ_ABII01000018.1); Stigmatella aurantiaca FAR (NZ_AAMD01000005.1); Phytophthora ramorum FAR (GenBank Accession No.: AAQX01001105.1); GenBank Accession no. AAD38039.1; gi|5020215|gb|AAD38039.1|AF149917_(—)1 acyl CoA reductase [Simmondsia chinensis]; GenBank Accession no. BAC79425.1; gi|33146307|dbj|BAC79425.1| fatty-acyl reductase [Bombyx mors]; GenBank Accession no. DQ446732.1 or NM_(—)115529.1; gi|91806527|gb|DQ446732.1| Arabidopsis thaliana clone pENTR221-At3g44560; gi|18410556|ref|NM_(—)115529.1|; and (GenBank Accession no. EU817405.1; gi|210063138|gb|EU817405.1| Ostrinia scapulalis.

As indicated herein, “heterologous FAR” encompasses wild-type FARs, variants and functional fragments thereof. In various embodiments, a functional fragment of a full-length wild-type FAR or a variant FAR comprises at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% identity to the wild-type or reference amino acid sequence. In certain embodiments, a functional fragment comprises about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, at about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, or about 99% of the amino acid sequence of a full-length FAR polypeptide (such as a FAR comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39.

In another aspect, the present invention provides polynucleotides encoding FAR enzymes as described above. The polynucleotide can be a DNA or RNA, and can be single-stranded or double-stranded. The polynucleotide can be isolated from a naturally occurring microorganism, or prepared wholly or partially via synthetic means.

In certain embodiments, the FAR polypeptide encompassed by the invention is coded for by a polynucleotide sequence that has been codon optimized. In particular embodiments, the polynucleotides that encode the FAR enzymes described herein are codon-optimized for expression in a host bacterial cell. Indeed, it is intended that the polynucleotides of the present invention be produced using any suitable methods and components as known in the art.

In some embodiments, a FAR enzyme is encoded by a polynucleotide sequence that has at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 93%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, or at least about 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 36 or SEQ ID NO:38 and further hybridizes with SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO: 5, SEQ ID NO: 36 and/or SEQ ID NO: 38 under medium, medium-high, high or very high stringency conditions.

In some embodiments, the preferred substrates for the heterologous FAR are fatty acyl-ACP substrates comprising carbon chain lengths of C10 to C18. In certain embodiments, the fatty acyl-ACP substrates comprise carbon chain lengths of C12 to C16, and in other embodiments, the fatty acyl-ACP substrates comprise carbon chain lengths of C12 to C14. In certain embodiments, the substrate comprises a majority of saturated hydrocarbons. In certain embodiments, the substrate pool for the heterologous FAR comprises over about 70% (e.g., about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 88%, about 90%, about 92%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, and about 99%) C10 to C18 fatty acyl-ACP substrates; over about 70% (e.g., about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 88%, about 90%, about 92%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, and about 99%) C10 to C16 fatty acyl-ACP substrates and also over about 70% (e.g., about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 88%, about 90%, about 92%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, and about 99%) C12 to C16 fatty acyl-ACP substrates. In certain embodiments, the substrate pool for the heterologous FAR comprises over about 70% (e.g., about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 88%, about 90%, about 92%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, and about 99%) C10 to C18 fatty acyl-CoA substrates; over about 70% (e.g., about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 88%, about 90%, about 92%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, and about 99%) C10 to C16 fatty acyl-CoA substrates; and also over about 70% (e.g., about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 88%, about 90%, about 92%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, and about 99%) C12 to C16 fatty acyl-CoA substrates.

4. DNA Constructs, Vectors and Transformation

In some embodiments, polynucleotides encoding any of the enzymes as described herein (e.g., TE, FadD, or FAR) for expression in the recombinant host cells are operably linked to a promoter, and optionally, to other control sequences.

Suitable promoters include, but are not limited to constitutive promoters, regulated promoters, and inducible promoters. Appropriate promoter sequences can be obtained from genes encoding extracellular or intracellular polypeptides which are either endogenous or heterologous to the host cell. Methods for the isolation, identification and manipulation of promoters of varying strengths are available in or readily adapted from the art. See e.g., Nevoigt et al. (2006) Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72:5266-5273, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In certain embodiments, the DNA constructs, vectors and polynucleotides are suitable for expression of a heterologous FadD, TE or FAR enzyme in bacteria. For bacterial host cells, suitable promoters for directing transcription of the nucleic acid constructs of the present disclosure, include, but are not limited to the promoters obtained or derived the E. coli lac operon, Streptomyces coelicolor agarase gene (dagA), Bacillus subtilis levansucrase gene (sacB), Bacillus licheniformis alpha-amylase gene (amyL), Bacillus stearothermophilus maltogenic amylase gene (amyM), Bacillus amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylase gene (amyQ), Bacillus licheniformis penicillinase gene (penP), Bacillus subtilis xylA and xylB genes, Bacillus megaterium promoters, and prokaryotic beta-lactamase gene (Villa-Kamaroff et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 75: 3727-3731(1978)), as well as the tac promoter (DeBoer et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 80: 21-25(1993)). Additional promoters include trp promoter, phage lambda PL, T7 promoter, promoters found at PromEC (http://margalit.huji.ac.il/promec/index.html) and the like. Particularly useful promoters include the Trc promoter (Brosius J. et al., (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260: 3539-3541). Additional promoters suitable for use in the present disclosure are described in Terpe H., 2006, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 72:211-222 and in Sambrook et al (2001) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 3^(rd) ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York.

In various embodiments, an expression vector optionally contains a ribosome binding site (RBS) for translation initiation, and a transcription terminator, such as the transcriptional terminators T₁ and T₂ derived from the rrnB operon from E. coli (See e.g., Orosz et al., (1991) Eur. J. Biochem. 201: 653-659). The vector also optionally includes appropriate sequences for amplifying expression, e.g., translational enhancers.

In various embodiments, the polynucleotides useful for expressing the heterologous enzymes in recombinant host cells are operably linked to other control sequences, including but not limited to, a transcription terminator sequence, a signal sequence that when translated directs the expressed polypeptide into the secretory pathway of the recombinant host cell, and/or a polyadenylation sequence (eukaryotes). The choice of appropriate control sequences for use in the polynucleotide constructs of the present disclosure is within the skill in the art and in various embodiments is dependent on the recombinant host cell used and the desired method of recovering the fatty alcohol compositions produced. Indeed, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular control sequence(s).

A recombinant expression vector according to the invention can be any suitable vector, e.g., a plasmid or a virus, which can be manipulated by recombinant DNA techniques to facilitate expression of at least one heterologous enzyme in the recombinant host cell. In certain embodiments, the expression vector is integrated into the chromosome of the recombinant host cell and comprises one or more heterologous genes operably linked to one or more control sequences useful for production of at least one heterologous enzyme. In other embodiments, the expression vector is an extra chromosomal replicative DNA molecule, e.g., a linear or closed circular plasmid, that is found either in low copy number (e.g., from about 1 to about 10 copies per genome equivalent) or in high copy number (e.g., more than about 10 copies per genome equivalent). In various embodiments, the expression vector includes a selectable marker, such as a gene that confers antibiotic resistance (e.g., ampicillin, kanamycin, chloramphenicol or tetracycline resistance) to the recombinant host organism that comprises the vector.

Expression vectors which, in certain embodiments, are useful for expressing enzymes as disclosed herein (for example FadD, TE and FAR) are commercially available, e.g., from Sigma-Aldrich Chemicals, St. Louis Mo. and Stratagene, LaJolla Calif. In some embodiments, examples of suitable expression vectors are plasmids which are derived from pBR322 (Gibco BRL), pUC (Gibco BRL), pREP4, pCEP4 (Invitrogen) or pPoly (Lathe et al., 1987, Gene 57:193-201). In some embodiments, the expression vector encoding the FAR enzyme and the expression vector encoding a second enzyme such as TE or FadD are on separate vectors. In some other embodiments, the heterologous FAR enzyme and the second enzyme are encoded on the same expression vector, and expression of each enzyme is independently regulated by a different promoter. In some further embodiments, the heterologous FAR enzyme and the second enzyme are encoded on the same expression vector, and expression of each enzyme is regulated by the same promoter.

In certain embodiments, the present disclosure provides a plasmid for expression of heterologous genes in E. coli. Expression vector pCK110900, which comprises a P15A origin of replication “ori” (P15A ori), lac a CAP binding site, a lac promoter, a T7 ribosomal binding site (T7g10 RBS) and a chloramphenicol resistance gene (camR) is an exemplary vector that finds use in the present invention. This expression vector is depicted in FIG. 3 of U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0195947, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Other suitable plasmid vectors include, but are not limited to derivatives of pCL1920 and pCL1921 (Lerner and Inouye, 1990; NAR 18:4631). These vectors contain the pSC101 on and confer resistance to spectinomycin (GenBank: AB236930). In some embodiments, the vector is an expression vector derived from pCL1920 including the Trc promoter and the laclq gene from E. coli. pLS8349 (SEQ ID NO: 15).

SEQ ID NO: 15 Polynucleotide sequence of pLS8379: GGCATCCGCTTACAGACAAGCTGTGACCGTCTCCGGGAGCTGCATGTGTCAGAGGTTTTCAC CGTCATCACCGAAACGCGCGAGGCAGCAGATCAATTCGCGCGCGAAGGCGAAGCGGCATGCA TTTACGTTGACACCATCGAATGGTGCAAAACCTTTCGCGGTATGGCATGATAGCGCCCGGAA GAGAGTCAATTCAGGGTGGTGAATGTGAAACCAGTAACGTTATACGATGTCGCAGAGTATGC CGGTGTCTCTTATCAGACCGTTTCCCGCGTGGTGAACCAGGCCAGCCACGTTTCTGCGAAAA CGCGGGAAAAAGTGGAAGCGGCGATGGCGGAGCTGAATTACATTCCCAACCGCGTGGCACAA CAACTGGCGGGCAAACAGTCGTTGCTGATTGGCGTTGCCACCTCCAGTCTGGCCCTGCACGC GCCGTCGCAAATTGTCGCGGCGATTAAATCTCGCGCCGATCAACTGGGTGCCAGCGTGGTGG TGTCGATGGTAGAACGAAGCGGCGTCGAAGCCTGTAAAGCGGCGGTGCACAATCTTCTCGCG CAACGCGTCAGTGGGCTGATCATTAACTATCCGCTGGATGACCAGGATGCCATTGCTGTGGA AGCTGCCTGCACTAATGTTCCGGCGTTATTTCTTGATGTCTCTGACCAGACACCCATCAACA GTATTATTTTCTCCCATGAAGACGGTACGCGACTGGGCGTGGAGCATCTGGTCGCATTGGGT CACCAGCAAATCGCGCTGTTAGCGGGCCCATTAAGTTCTGTCTCGGCGCGTCTGCGTCTGGC TGGCTGGCATAAATATCTCACTCGCAATCAAATTCAGCCGATAGCGGAACGGGAAGGCGACT GGAGTGCCATGTCCGGTTTTCAACAAACCATGCAAATGCTGAATGAGGGCATCGTTCCCACT GCGATGCTGGTTGCCAACGATCAGATGGCGCTGGGCGCAATGCGCGCCATTACCGAGTCCGG GCTGCGCGTTGGTGCGGATATCTCGGTAGTGGGATACGACGATACCGAAGACAGCTCATGTT ATATCCCGCCGTTAACCACCATCAAACAGGATTTTCGCCTGCTGGGGCAAACCAGCGTGGAC CGCTTGCTGCAACTCTCTCAGGGCCAGGCGGTGAAGGGCAATCAGCTGTTGCCCGTCTCACT GGTGAAAAGAAAAACCACCCTGGCGCCCAATACGCAAACCGCCTCTCCCCGCGCGTTGGCCG ATTCATTAATGCAGCTGGCACGACAGGTTTCCCGACTGGAAAGCGGGCAGTGAGCGCAACGC AATTAATGTAAGTTAGCGCGAATTGATCTGGTTTGACAGCTTATCATCGACTGCACGGTGCA CCAATGCTTCTGGCGTCAGGCAGCCATCGGAAGCTGTGGTATGGCTGTGCAGGTCGTAAATC ACTGCATAATTCGTGTCGCTCAAGGCGCACTCCCGTTCTGGATAATGTTTTTTGCGCCGACA TCATAACGGTTCTGGCAAATATTCTGAAATGAGCTGTTGACAATTAATCATCCGGCTCGTAT AATGTGTGGAATTGTGAGCGGATAACAATTTCACACAGGAAACAGCGCCGCTGAGAAAAAGC GAAGCGGCACTGCTCTTTAACAATTTATCAGACAATCTGTGTGGGCACTCGACCGGAATTAT CGATTAACTTTATTATTAAAAATTAAAGAGGTATATATTAATGTATCGATTAAATAAGGAGG AATAAACCATGGATCCGAGCTCGAGATCTGCAGCTGGTACCATATGGGAATTCGAAGCTTTC TAGAACAAAAACTCATCTCAGAAGAGGATCTGAATAGCGCCGTCGACCATCATCATCATCAT CATTGAGTTTAAACGGTCTCCAGCTTGGCTGTTTTGGCGGATGAGAGAAGATTTTCAGCCTG ATACAGATTAAATCAGAACGCAGAAGCGGTCTGATAAAACAGAATTTGCCTGGCGGCAGTAG CGCGGTGGTCCCACCTGACCCCATGCCGAACTCAGAAGTGAAACGCCGTAGCGCCGATGGTA GTGTGGGGTCTCCCCATGCGAGAGTAGGGAACTGCCAGGCATCAAATAAAACGAAAGGCTCA GTCGAAAGACTGGGCCTTTCGTTTTATCTGTTGTTTGTCGGTGAACGCTCTCCTGAGGCGCC TGATGCGGTATTTTCTCCTTACGCATCTGTGCGGTATTTCACACCGCATATGGTGCACTCTC AGTACAATCTGCTCTGATGCCGCATAGTTAAGCCAGCCCCGACACCCGCCAACACCCGCTGA CGAGCTTAGTAAAGCCCTCGCTAGATTTTAATGCGGATGTTGCGATTACTTCGCCAACTATT GCGATAACAAGAAAAAGCCAGCCTTTCATGATATATCTCCCAATTTGTGTAGGGCTTATTAT GCACGCTTAAAAATAATAAAAGCAGACTTGACCTGATAGTTTGGCTGTGAGCAATTATGTGC TTAGTGCATCTAACGCTTGAGTTAAGCCGCGCCGCGAAGCGGCGTCGGCTTGAACGAATTGT TAGACATTATTTGCCGACTACCTTGGTGATCTCGCCTTTCACGTAGTGGACAAATTCTTCCA ACTGATCTGCGCGCGAGGCCAAGCGATCTTCTTCTTGTCCAAGATAAGCCTGTCTAGCTTCA AGTATGACGGGCTGATACTGGGCCGGCAGGCGCTCCATTGCCCAGTCGGCAGCGACATCCTT CGGCGCGATTTTGCCGGTTACTGCGCTGTACCAAATGCGGGACAACGTAAGCACTACATTTC GCTCATCGCCAGCCCAGTCGGGCGGCGAGTTCCATAGCGTTAAGGTTTCATTTAGCGCCTCA AATAGATCCTGTTCAGGAACCGGATCAAAGAGTTCCTCCGCCGCTGGACCTACCAAGGCAAC GCTATGTTCTCTTGCTTTTGTCAGCAAGATAGCCAGATCAATGTCGATCGTGGCTGGCTCGA AGATACCTGCAAGAATGTCATTGCGCTGCCATTCTCCAAATTGCAGTTCGCGCTTAGCTGGA TAACGCCACGGAATGATGTCGTCGTGCACAACAATGGTGACTTCTACAGCGCGGAGAATCTC GCTCTCTCCAGGGGAAGCCGAAGTTTCCAAAAGGTCGTTGATCAAAGCTCGCCGCGTTGTTT CATCAAGCCTTACGGTCACCGTAACCAGCAAATCAATATCACTGTGTGGCTTCAGGCCGCCA TCCACTGCGGAGCCGTACAAATGTACGGCCAGCAACGTCGGTTCGAGATGGCGCTCGATGAC GCCAACTACCTCTGATAGTTGAGTCGATACTTCGGCGATCACCGCTTCCCTCATGATGTTTA ACTTTGTTTTAGGGCGACTGCCCTGCTGCGTAACATCGTTGCTGCTCCATAACATCAAACAT CGACCCACGGCGTAACGCGCTTGCTGCTTGGATGCCCGAGGCATAGACTGTACCCCAAAAAA ACAGTCATAACAAGCCATGAAAACCGCCACTGCGCCGTTACCACCGCTGCGTTCGGTCAAGG TTCTGGACCAGTTGCGTGAGCGCATACGCTACTTGCATTACAGCTTACGAACCGAACAGGCT TATGTCCACTGGGTTCGTGCCTTCATCCGTTTCCACGGTGTGCGTCACCCGGCAACCTTGGG CAGCAGCGAAGTCGAGGCATTTCTGTCCTGGCTGGCGAACGAGCGCAAGGTTTCGGTCTCCA CGCATCGTCAGGCATTGGCGGCCTTGCTGTTCTTCTACGGCAAGGTGCTGTGCACGGATCTG CCCTGGCTTCAGGAGATCGGAAGACCTCGGCCGTCGCGGCGCTTGCCGGTGGTGCTGACCCC GGATGAAGTGGTTCGCATCCTCGGTTTTCTGGAAGGCGAGCATCGTTTGTTCGCCCAGCTTC TGTATGGAACGGGCATGCGGATCAGTGAGGGTTTGCAACTGCGGGTCAAGGATCTGGATTTC GATCACGGCACGATCATCGTGCGGGAGGGCAAGGGCTCCAAGGATCGGGCCTTGATGTTACC CGAGAGCTTGGCACCCAGCCTGCGCGAGCAGGGGAATTAATTCCCACGGGTTTTGCTGCCCG CAAACGGGCTGTTCTGGTGTTGCTAGTTTGTTATCAGAATCGCAGATCCGGCTTCAGCCGGT TTGCCGGCTGAAAGCGCTATTTCTTCCAGAATTGCCATGATTTTTTCCCCACGGGAGGCGTC ACTGGCTCCCGTGTTGTCGGCAGCTTTGATTCGATAAGCAGCATCGCCTGTTTCAGGCTGTC TATGTGTGACTGTTGAGCTGTAACAAGTTGTCTCAGGTGTTCAATTTCATGTTCTAGTTGCT TTGTTTTACTGGTTTCACCTGTTCTATTAGGTGTTACATGCTGTTCATCTGTTACATTGTCG ATCTGTTCATGGTGAACAGCTTTGAATGCACCAAAAACTCGTAAAAGCTCTGATGTATCTAT CTTTTTTACACCGTTTTCATCTGTGCATATGGACAGTTTTCCCTTTGATATGTAACGGTGAA CAGTTGTTCTACTTTTGTTTGTTAGTCTTGATGCTTCACTGATAGATACAAGAGCCATAAGA ACCTCAGATCCTTCCGTATTTAGCCAGTATGTTCTCTAGTGTGGTTCGTTGTTTTTGCGTGA GCCATGAGAACGAACCATTGAGATCATACTTACTTTGCATGTCACTCAAAAATTTTGCCTCA AAACTGGTGAGCTGAATTTTTGCAGTTAAAGCATCGTGTAGTGTTTTTCTTAGTCCGTTATG TAGGTAGGAATCTGATGTAATGGTTGTTGGTATTTTGTCACCATTCATTTITATCTGGTTGT TCTCAAGTTCGGTTACGAGATCCATTTGTCTATCTAGTTCAACTTGGAAAATCAACGTATCA GTCGGGCGGCCTCGCTTATCAACCACCAATTTCATATTGCTGTAAGTGTTTAAATCTTTACT TATTGGTTTCAAAACCCATTGGTTAAGCCTTTTAAACTCATGGTAGTTATTTTCAAGCATTA ACATGAACTTAAATTCATCAAGGCTAATCTCTATATTTGCCTTGTGAGTTTTCTTTTGTGTT AGTTCTTTTAATAACCACTCATAAATCCTCATAGAGTATTTGTTTTCAAAAGACTTAACATG TTCCAGATTATATTTTATGAATTTTTTTAACTGGAAAAGATAAGGCAATATCTCTTCACTAA AAACTAATTCTAATTTTTCGCTTGAGAACTTGGCATAGTTTGTCCACTGGAAAATCTCAAAG CCTTTAACCAAAGGATTCCTGATTTCCACAGTTCTCGTCATCAGCTCTCTGGTTGCTTTAGC TAATACACCATAAGCATTTTCCCTACTGATGTTCATCATCTGAGCGTATTGGTTATAAGTGA ACGATACCGTCCGTTCTTTCCTTGTAGGGTTTTCAATCGTGGGGTTGAGTAGTGCCACACAG CATAAAATTAGCTTGGTTTCATGCTCCGTTAAGTCATAGCGACTAATCGCTAGTTCATTTGC TTTGAAAACAACTAATTCAGACATACATCTCAATTGGTCTAGGTGATTTTAATCACTATACC AATTGAGATGGGCTAGTCAATGATAATTACTAGTCCTTTTCCTTTGAGTTGTGGGTATCTGT AAATTCTGCTAGACCTTTGCTGGAAAACTTGTAAATTCTGCTAGACCCTCTGTAAATTCCGC TAGACCTTTGTGTGTTTTTTTTGTTTATATTCAAGTGGTTATAATTTATAGAATAAAGAAAG AATAAAAAAAGATAAAAAGAATAGATCCCAGCCCTGTGTATAACTCACTACTTTAGTCAGTT CCGCAGTATTACAAAAGGATGTCGCAAACGCTGTTTGCTCCTCTACAAAACAGACCTTAAAA CCCTAAAGGCTTAAG

Methods, reagents and tools for transforming host cells described herein, such as bacteria, yeast (including oleaginous yeast) and filamentous fungi are known in the art. General methods, reagents and tools for transforming, e.g., bacteria can be found, for example, in Sambrook et al (2001) Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, 3^(rd) ed., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, New York. In some embodiments, introduction of the DNA construct or vector of the present invention into a host cell is accomplished by calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-dextran mediated transfection, electroporation, or other common techniques (See Davis et al., 1986, Basic Methods in Molecular Biology, which is incorporated herein by reference). In one embodiment, a preferred method used to transform E. coli strains is electroporation and reference is made to Dower et al., (1988) NAR 16: 6127-6145. Indeed, any suitable method for transforming host cells finds use in the present invention. It is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular method for introducing nucleic acids such as constructs into host cells.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a recombinant bacterial microorganism transformed with a gene encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 70%, (at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 97%, at least 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 70%, (at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 85%, at least 90%, at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 97%, at least 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 and a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 85% (at least 88%, at least 90%, at least 91%, at least 92%, at least 93%, at least 94%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39. In some specific embodiments the recombinant bacterial microorganism produces a fatty alcohol composition comprising fatty alcohols having carbon chain lengths of at least 80% C12, C14 and C16 fatty alcohols when said recombinant microorganism is cultured under suitable culture conditions for production of the fatty alcohols.

5. Methods for Gene Inactivation

In some embodiments, endogenous genes of the engineered microorganism of the present invention have been inactivated for example they have been genetically modified to at least partially delete a gene encoding the endogenous enzyme (e.g., FadE or FadR). Typically, these modifications of the gene reduce or eliminate the total amount of endogenous enzyme produced by the host cell. In some embodiments, complete or near-complete deletion of the gene sequence is contemplated. However, a deletion mutation need not completely remove the entire gene sequence encoding the enzyme, in order to reduce the amount of endogenous enzyme produced by the engineered cell. For example, in some embodiments, there is a partial deletion that removes one or more nucleotides encoding a portion of an enzyme (e.g., FadE) that plays a role in endogenous enzyme activity by the host cell (See, U.S. Pat. No. 8,110,670).

A deletion in a gene encoding an enzyme (e.g., FadE and/or FadR) in accordance with the embodiments provided herein includes a deletion of one or more nucleotides in the gene encoding the target enzyme (e.g., FadE and/or FadR). In some embodiments, there is a deletion of at least about 5%, about 10%, about 15%, about 20%, about 25%, about 30%, about 35%, about 40%, about 45%, about 50%, about 55%, about 60%, about 65%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100%, of the gene (e.g. a gene encoding for example FadE and/or FadR), wherein the amount of enzyme produced by the cell is reduced.

Thus, in some embodiments, the deletion results in at least about 5%, about 10%, about 15%, about 20%, about 25%, about 30%, about 35%, about 40%, about 45%, about 50%, about 55%, about 60%, about 65%, about 70%, about 75%, about 80%, about 85%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, or about a 99% reduction in the enzyme activity produced by the cell, relative to the enzyme activity of a corresponding enzyme produced by an unmodified organism grown or cultured under essentially the same culture conditions and including the gene coding for the corresponding enzyme which had not be inactivated or deleted. In some embodiments, deletion is of a fadE gene or fadR gene.

Deletion of a gene of interest can be detected and confirmed by any of a variety of methods known in the art for detection of gene deletions, including the methods provided herein. For example, gene deletion can be confirmed using PCR amplification of the modified genomic region. It will be appreciated that additional suitable techniques for confirming deletion can be used and are well known, including but not limited to Southern blot techniques, DNA sequencing of the modified genomic region, and screening for positive or negative markers incorporated during recombination events.

Some additional methods for complete and/or partial deletion of a gene are well-known. The genetically modified cells described herein can be generated using any of a variety of deletion methods known in the art that result in the complete inactivation or at least a reduction in the amount of at least one endogenous gene expressed by the cells.

There are numerous approaches to create genetic modifications in bacteria (See e.g., Court et al., (2002) Annual Rev. Genet 36:361-388; and Datsenko and Wanner (2000) PNAS 97:6640-6645).

In certain embodiments the inactivation is of a fadR polynucleotide sequence encoding a FadR enzyme. For example, in one embodiment, the polynucleotide sequence encoding a FadR enzyme is set forth herein as SEQ ID NO:11, and the encoded amino acid sequence is set forth as SEQ ID NO:12.

SEQ ID NO: 11 ATGGTCATTAAGGCGCAAAGCCCGGCGGGTTTCGCGGAAGAGTACATTATTGAAAGTATCTG GAATAACCGCTTCCCTCCCGGGACTATTTTGCCCGCAGAACGTGAACTTTCAGAATTAATTG GCGTAAGCGTACTACGTTACGTGAAGTGTTACAGCGTCTGGCACGAGATGGCTGGTTGACCA TTCAACATGGCAAGCCGACGAAGGTGAATAATTTCTGGGAAACTTCCGGTTTAAATATCCTT GAAACACTGGCGCGACTGGATCACGAAAGTGTGCCGCAGCTTATTGATAATTTGCTGTCGGT GCGTACCAATATTTCCACTATTTTTATTCGCACCGCGTTTCGTCAGCATCCCGATAAAGCGC AGGAAGTGCTGGCTACCGCTAATGAAGTGGCCGATCACGCCGATGCCTTTGCCGAGCTGGAT TACAACATATTCCGCGGCCTGGCGTTTGCTTCCGGCAACCCGATTTACGGTCTGATTCTTAA CGGGATGAAAGGGCTGTATACGCGTATTGGTCGTCACTATTTCGCCAATCCGGAAGCGCGCA GTCTGGCGCTGGGCTTCTACCACAAACTGTCGGCGTTGTGCAGTGAAGGCGCGCACGATCAG TGTACGAAACAGTGCGTCGCTATGGGCATGAGAGTGGCGAGATTTGGCACCGGATGCAGAAA AATCTGCCGGGTGATTTAGCCATTCAGGGGCGATAA SEQ ID NO: 12 MVIKAQSPAGFAEEYIIESIWNNRFPPGTILPAERELSELIGVTRTTLREVLQRLARDGWLT IQHGKPTKNNFWETSGLNILETLARLDHESVPQLIDNLLSVRTNISTIFIRTAFRQHPDKAQ EVLATANEVADHADAFAELDYNIFRGLAFASGNPIYGLILNGMKGLYTRIGRHYFANPEARS LALGFYHKLSALCSEGAHDQVYETVRRYGHESGEIWHRMQKNLPGDLAIQGR.

In some embodiments, the FadR is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence that is at least about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% identical to SEQ ID NO:11. In some embodiments, the FadR is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence that can selectively hybridize to SEQ ID NO:11 under moderately stringent or highly stringent conditions, as described hereinabove. In some embodiments, the FadR enzyme has an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% identical to SEQ ID NO:12.

In certain embodiments the inactivation is of a fadE polynucleotide sequence encoding a FadE enzyme. For example, in one embodiment, the polynucleotide sequence encoding a FadE enzyme is set forth herein as SEQ ID NO:13, and the encoded amino acid sequence is set forth as SEQ ID NO:14.

SEQ ID NO: 13 ATGATGATTTTGAGTATTCTCGCTACGGTTGTCCTGCTCGGCGCGTTGTTCTATCACCGCGT GAGCTTATTTATCAGCAGTCTGATTTTGCTCGCCTGGACAGCCGCCCTCGGCGTTGCTGGTC TGTGGTCGGCGTGGGTACTGGTGCCTCTGGCCATTATCCTCGTGCCATTTAACTTTGCGCCT ATGCGTAAGTCGATGATTTCCGCGCCGGTATTTCGCGGTTTCCGTAAGGTGATGCCGCCGAT GTCGCGCACTGAGAAAGAAGCGATTGATGCGGGCACCACCTGGTGGGAGGGCGACTTGTTCC AGGGCAAGCCGGACTGGAAAAAGCTGCATAACTATCCGCAGCCGCGCCTGACCGCCGAAGAG CAAGCGTTTCTCGACGGCCCGGTAGAAGAAGCCTGCCGGATGGCGAATGATTTCCAGATCAC CCATGAGCTGGCGGATCTGCCGCCGGAGTTGTGGGCGTACCTTAAAGAGCATCGTTTCTTCG CGATGATCATCAAAAAAGAGTACGGCGGGCTGGAGTTCTCGGCTTATGCCCAGTCTCGCGTG CTGCAAAAACTCTCCGGCGTGAGCGGGATCCTGGCGATTACCGTCGGCGTGCCAAACTCATT AGGCCCGGGCGAACTGTTGCAACATTACGGCACTGACGAGCAGAAAGATCACTATCTGCCGC GTCTGGCGCGTGGTCAGGAGATCCCCTGCTTTGCACTGACCAGCCCGGAAGCGGGTTCCGAT GCGGGCGCGATTCCGGACACCGGGATTGTCTGCATGGGCGAATGGCAGGGCCAGCAGGTGCT GGGGATGCGTCTGACCTGGAACAAACGCTACATTACGCTGGCACCGATTGCGACCGTGCTTG GGCTGGCGTTTAAACTCTCCGACCCGGAAAAATTACTCGGCGGTGCAGAAGATTTAGGCATT ACCTGTGCGCTGATCCCAACCACCACGCCGGGCGTGGAAATTGGTCGTCGCCACTTCCCGCT GAACGTACCGTTCCAGAACGGACCGACGCGCGGTAAAGATGTCTTCGTGCCGATCGATTACA TCATCGGCGGGCCGAAAATGGCCGGGCAAGGCTGGCGGATGCTGGTGGAGTGCCTCTCGGTA GGCCGCGGCATCACCCTGCCTTCCAACTCAACCGGCGGCGTGAAATCGGTAGCGCTGGCAAC CGGCGCGTATGCTCACATTCGCCGTCAGTTCAAAATCTCTATTGGTAAGATGGAAGGGATTG AAGAGCCGCTGGCGCGTATTGCCGGTAATGCCTACGTGATGGATGCTGCGGCATCGCTGATT ACCTACGGCATTATGCTCGGCGAAAAACCTGCCGTGCTGTCGGCTATCGTTAAGTATCACTG TACCCACCGCGGGCAGCAGTCGATTATTGATGCGATGGATATTACCGGCGGTAAAGGCATTA TGCTCGGGCAAAGCAACTTCCTGGCGCGTGCTTACCAGGGCGCACCGATTGCCATCACCGTT GAAGGGGCTAACATTCTGACCCGCAGCATGATGATCTTCGGACAAGGAGCGATTCGTTGCCA TCCGTACGTGCTGGAAGAGATGGAAGCGGCGAAGAACAATGACGTCAACGCGTTCGATAAAC TGTTGTTCAAACATATCGGTCACGTCGGTAGCAACAAAGTTCGCAGCTTCTGGCTGGGCCTG ACGCGCGGTTTAACCAGCAGCACGCCAACCGGCGATGCCACTAAACGCTACTATCAGCACCT GAACCGCCTGAGCGCCAACCTCGCCCTGCTTTCTGATGTCTCGATGGCAGTGCTGGGCGGCA GCCTGAAACGTCGCGAGCGCATCTCGGCCCGTCTGGGGGATATTTTAAGCCAGCTCTACCTC GCCTCTGCCGTGCTGAAGCGTTATGACGACGAAGGCCGTAATGAAGCCGACCTGCCGCTGGT GCACTGGGGCGTACAAGATGCGCTGTATCAGGCTGAACAGGCGATGGATGATTTACTGCAAA ACTTCCCGAACCGCGTGGTTGCCGGGCTGCTGAATGTGGTGATCTTCCCGACCGGACGTCAT TATCTGGCACCTTCTGACAAGCTGGATCATAAAGTGGCGAAGATTTTACAAGTGCCGAACGC CACCCGTTCCCGCATTGGTCGCGGTCAGTACCTGACGCCGAGCGAGCATAATCCGGTTGGCT TGCTGGAAGAGGCGCTGGTGGATGTGATTGCCGCCGACCCAATTCATCAGCGGATCTGTAAA GAGCTGGG TAAAAACCTGCCGTTTACCCGTCTGGATGAACTGGCGCACAACGCGCTGGTGAAGGGGCTGA TTGATAAAGATGAAGCCGCTATTCTGGTGAAAGCTGAAGAAAGCCGTCTGCGCAGTATTAAC GTTGATGACTTTGATCCGGAAGAGCTGGCGACGAAGCCGGTAAAGTTGCCGGAGAAAGTGCG GAAAGTTGAAGCCGCGTAA SEQ ID NO: 14 MMILSILATVVLLGALFYHRVSLFISSLILLAWTAALGVAGLWSAWVLVPLAIILVPFNFAP MRKSMISAPVFRGFRKVMPPMSRTEKEAIDAGTTWWEGDLFQGKPDWKKLHNYPQPRLTAEE QAFLDGPVEEACRMANDFQITHELADLPPELWAYLKEHRFFAMIIKKEYGGLEFSAYAQSRV LQKLSGVSGILAITVGVPNSLGPGELLQHYGTDEQKDHYLPRLARGQEIPCFALTSPEAGSD AGAIPDTGIVCMGEWQGQQVLGMRLTWNKRYITLAPIATVLGLAFKLSDPEKLLGGAEDLGI TCALIPTTTPGVEIGRRHFPLNVPFQNGPTRGKDVFVPIDYIIGGPKMAGQGWRMLVECLSV GRGITLPSNSTGGVKSVALATGAYAHIRRQFKISIGKMEGIEEPLARIAGNAYVMDAAASLI TYGIMLGEKPAVLSAIVKYHCTHRGQQSIIDAMDITGGKGIMLGQSNFLARAYQGAPIAITV EGANILTRSMMIFGQGAIRCHPYVLEEMEAAKNNDVNAFDKLLFKHIGHVGSNKVRSFWLGL TRGLTSSTPTGDATKRYYQHLNRLSANLALLSDVSMAVLGGSLKRRERISARLGDILSQLYL ASAVLKRYDDEGRNEADLPLVHWGVQDALYQAEQAMDDLLQNFPNRVVAGLLNVVIFPTGRH YLAPSDKLDHKVAKILQVPNATRSRIGRGQYLTPSEHNPVGLLEEALVDVIAADPIHQRICK ELGKNLPFTRLDELAHNALVKGLIDKDEAAILVKAEESRLRSINVDDFDPEELATKPVKLPE KVRKVEAA

In some embodiments, the FadE is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence that is at least about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% identical to SEQ ID NO:13. In some embodiments, the FadE is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence that can selectively hybridize to SEQ ID NO:13 under moderately stringent or highly stringent conditions, as described hereinabove. In some embodiments, the FadE has an amino acid sequence that is at least about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% identical to SEQ ID NO:14. FadE sequences can be identified by any of a variety of methods known in the art. For example, a sequence alignment can be conducted against a database, for example against the NCBI database, and sequences with the lowest HMM E-value can be selected.

In certain embodiments, an engineered cell of the invention (e.g., E. coli) comprises a gene encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 70%, (at least 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95%, 97%, 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35 or a functional fragment thereof, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 70%, (at least 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95%, 97%, 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or a functional fragment thereof; a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 85% (at least 88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% 99% and even 100%) to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 or a functional fragment thereof and optionally an inactivated gene encoding a FadE enzyme having at least about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:14 and/or an inactivated gene encoding a FadR enzyme comprising about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:12.

In certain embodiments, an engineered cell of the invention (e.g., an E. coli) comprises a gene encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 85%, sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35 or a functional fragment thereof, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 85% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or a functional fragment thereof; a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 90%, sequence identify to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 or a functional fragment thereof and optionally an inactivated gene encoding a FadE enzyme having at least about 85%, sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:14 and/or an inactivated gene encoding a FadR enzyme comprising about 85% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:12.

In certain embodiments, an engineered cell of the invention (e.g., E. coli) comprises a gene encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 95% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 35 or a functional fragment thereof, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 95% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or a functional fragment thereof; a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 90%, sequence identity to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 or a functional fragment thereof and optionally an inactivated gene encoding a FadE enzyme having at least about 90%, sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:14 and/or an inactivated gene encoding a FadR enzyme comprising about 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:12.

In certain embodiments, an engineered cell of the invention (e.g., E. coli) comprises a gene encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 95% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 35 or a functional fragment thereof, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 95% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or a functional fragment thereof; a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 95%, sequence identity to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 or a functional fragment thereof and optionally an inactivated gene encoding a FadE enzyme having at least about 90%, sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:14 and/or an inactivated gene encoding a FadR enzyme comprising about 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:12.

6. Host Cells

In some embodiments, the recombinant bacterial microorganism according to the invention is a Gram-positive, Gram negative or Gram-variable bacterial cell. In certain embodiments, host cells include, but are not limited to, species of a genus selected from the group consisting of Agrobacterium, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Clostridium, Corynebacterium, Escherichia, Erwinia, Geobacillus, Klebsiella, Lactobacillus, Mycobacterium, Pantoea, Rhodococcus, Rhotobacter, Streptomyces and Zymornonas. In certain embodiments, the recombinant host cell is an industrial bacterial strain.

Numerous bacterial industrial strains are known and suitable for use in the methods disclosed herein. In some embodiments, the bacterial host cell is a species of the genus Bacillus, e.g., B. thuringiensis, B. anthracis, B. megaterium, B. subtilis, B. lentus, B. circulans, B. pumilus, B. lautus, B. coagulans, B. brevis, B. firmus, B. alkaophius, B. licheniformis, B. clausii, B. stearothermophilus, B. halodurans, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, and B. amyloliquefaciens. In some embodiments, the bacterial host cell is a species of the genus Erwinia, e.g., E. uredovora, E. carotovora, E. ananas, E. herbicola, E. punctata and E. terreus. In other embodiments the bacterial host cell is a species of the genus Pantoea, e.g., P. citrea or P. agglomerans. In still other embodiments, the bacterial host cell is a species of the genus Streptomyces, e.g., S. ambofaciens, S. achromogenes, S. avermitilis, S. coelicolor, S. aureofaciens, S. aureus, S. fungicidicus, S. griseus or S. lividans. In further embodiments, the bacterial host cell is a species of the genus Zymomonas, e.g., Z. mobilis or Z. lipolytica. In further embodiments, the bacterial host cell is a species of the genus Rhodococcus, e.g. R. opacus.

In some embodiments, the bacterial host cell is a species of the genus Escherichia, e.g., E. coli. In various embodiments, the engineered E. coli bacterial strains useful in the processes described herein are derived from strain W3110, strain MG1655, strain B766 (E. coli W) and strain BW25113. In some further embodiments, the W3110 strain finds use in the present invention; the genome of this strain has been fully sequenced and annotated See e.g., Hayashi et al., (2005) Mol. Syst. Biol. 2:2006.0007). For industrial applications, phage-resistant strains are particularly useful. In this sense, deletion of the fhuA gene (also known as tonA) confers resistance to phages T1, T5 and phi80 (Link et al., 1997, J. Bact. 179: 6228-8237). Another useful strain is E. coli W (Archer et al., 2011, BMC Genomics, 12:9.doi:10.1186/1471-2164-12-9). Also reference is made to Elben et al. (2005) J. of Food Protection 68(2):282-291.

Other examples of useful E. coli strains include, but are not limited to, E. coli strains found in the E. coli Stock Center from Yale University (http://cgsc.biology.yale.edu/index.php); the Keio Collection, available from the National BioResource Project at NBRP E. coli, Microbial Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Genetics 1111 Yata, Mishima, Shizuoka, 411-8540 Japan (www at shigen.nig.ac.jp/ecoli/strain/top/top.jsp); or strains deposited at the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC).

In some embodiments the host cell is an E. coli cell that has been transformed with a polynucleotide sequence encoding a TE, an ACS and a FAR as described herein. The polynucleotides encoding each of these enzymes may be located on the same vector or they may be located on different vectors. In some embodiments, the recombinant E. coli comprises a encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 70%, (at least 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95%, 97%, 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 35 or a functional fragment thereof, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 70%, (at least 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 93%, 95%, 97%, 99%, and even 100%) sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or a functional fragment thereof; a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 85% (at least 88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% 99% and even 100%) to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NOL 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 or a functional fragment thereof and optionally an inactivated gene encoding a FadE enzyme having at least about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:14 and/or an inactivated gene encoding a FadR enzyme comprising about 70%, about 71%, about 72%, about 73%, about 74%, about 75%, about 76%, about 77%, about 78%, about 79%, about 80%, about 81%, about 82%, about 83%, about 84%, about 85%, about 86%, about 87%, about 88%, about 89%, about 90%, about 91%, about 92%, about 93%, about 94%, about 95%, about 96%, about 97%, about 98%, about 99%, or about 100% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:12.

In some embodiments the host cell is an E. coli cell that has been transformed with a polynucleotide sequence encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 85% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 35 or a functional fragment thereof, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 85% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or a functional fragment thereof; a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 90%, sequence identify to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 or a functional fragment thereof and optionally an inactivated gene encoding a FadE enzyme having at least about 85%, sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:14 and/or an inactivated gene encoding a FadR enzyme comprising about 85%, sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:12.

In some embodiments the host cell is an E. coli cell that has been transformed with a polynucleotide sequence encoding a heterologous TE comprising at least 90%, sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 10 or a variant or functional fragment thereof, a gene encoding a heterologous ACS comprising at least 85% sequence identity to the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 or a variant or functional fragment thereof; a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 90%, sequence identify to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 4, SEQ ID NO: 6, SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 or a functional fragment thereof and optionally an inactivated gene encoding a FadE enzyme having at least about 90%, sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:14 and/or an inactivated gene encoding a FadR enzyme comprising about 90%, sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:12.

In some of the embodiments described above, the recombinant bacteria cells (for example E. coli) encompassed by the invention are cultured under suitable conditions for the production of a fatty alcohols. In some cases the fatty alcohol composition will comprise at least 60% (at least 65%, 70%, 75%, and 80%) of any one of C12, C14, C16 fatty alcohols or combinations thereof.

7. Fermentation/Culturing

Any suitable means for culturing the recombinant host cells finds use in the present invention. Indeed, any suitable fermentation protocol finds use in the production of the fatty alcohols provided herein. In some embodiments, fermentation of the recombinant host cells as described hereinabove for example comprises fermenting bacterial host cells such as E. coli comprising: a heterologous polynucleotide encoding a TE enzyme, a heterologous polynucleotide encoding an ACS enzyme and a heterologous polynucleotide encoding a FAR and optionally further comprising an inactivated fadE and/or an inactivated fadR gene, under suitable conditions and for a time sufficient for production of fatty alcohols, as desired. In some embodiments, the recombinant bacterial cell will also include the overexpression of one or more fatty acid biosynthetic genes, such as fabA, fabB, and/or fabZ.

Conditions for the culture and production of cells, including bacterial, fungal and yeast cells, are readily available and well-known in the art. The engineered host cells can be cultured in conventional nutrient media modified as appropriate. Culture conditions, such as temperature, pH and the like, are those previously used with the host cell selected for expression, and will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Cell culture media in general are set forth in Atlas and Parks (eds.) The Handbook of Microbiological Media (1993) CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., which is incorporated herein by reference. Additional information for cell culture is found in available commercial literature such as the Life Science Research Cell Culture Catalogue (1998) from Sigma-Aldrich, Inc (St Louis, Mo.) (“Sigma-LSRCCC”) and, for example, The Plant Culture Catalogue and supplement (1997) also from Sigma-Aldrich, Inc (St Louis, Mo.) (“Sigma-PCCS”), all of which are incorporated herein by reference. Reference is also made to the Manual of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology. A. Demain and J. Davies Eds. ASM Press. 1999.

In some embodiments, the recombinant cells encompassed by the invention are grown under batch or continuous fermentations conditions. Classical batch fermentation is a closed system, wherein the compositions of the medium is set at the beginning of the fermentation and is not subject to artificial alterations during the fermentation. A variation of the batch system is a fed-batch fermentation which also finds use in the present invention. In this variation, the substrate is added in increments as the fermentation progresses. Fed-batch systems are useful when catabolite repression is likely to inhibit the metabolism of the cells and where it is desirable to have limited amounts of substrate in the medium. Batch and fed-batch fermentations are common and well known in the art. Continuous fermentation is a system where a defined fermentation medium is added continuously to a bioreactor and an equal amount of conditioned medium (e.g., containing the desired end-products) is removed simultaneously for processing. Continuous fermentation generally maintains the cultures at a constant high density where cells are primarily in the growth phase where production of end products is enhanced. Continuous fermentation systems strive to maintain steady state growth conditions. Methods for modulating nutrients and growth factors for continuous fermentation processes as well as techniques for maximizing the rate of product formation are well known in the art of industrial microbiology.

In some embodiments, fermentations are carried out a temperature within the range of from about 10° C. to about 60° C., from about 15° C. to about 50° C., from about 20° C. to about 45° C., from about 25° C. to about 45° C., from about 30° C. to about 45° C. or from about 25° C. to about 40° C. Indeed, it is intended that any suitable fermentation temperature will be used in the present invention.

In some other embodiments, the fermentation is carried out for a period of time within the range of from about 8 hours to 240 hours, from about 8 hours to about 168 hours, from about 16 hours to about 144 hours, from about 16 hours to about 120 hours, or from about 24 hours to about 72 hours. Indeed, it is intended that any suitable fermentation time will find use in the present invention.

In some other embodiments, the fermentation will be carried out at a pH in the range of about 4 to about 8, in the range of about 4.5 to about 7.5, in the range of about 5 to about 7, or in the range of about 5.5 to about 6.5. Indeed, it is intended that any suitable pH range will find use in the present invention.

In some specific embodiments, the invention is directed to a recombinant bacterial microbial culture comprising a composition of fatty alcohols wherein said fatty alcohol composition comprises fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of at least 60%, (at least 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%) of C12, C14 and C16 fatty alcohols, the culture comprising a recombinant bacterial microorganism comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”); (b) a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”) and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”).

Carbon sources useful in the fermentation medium (e.g., broth) in which the recombinant microorganisms are grown are those that can be assimilated by the recombinant host strain. Such carbon sources are available in many forms and include renewable carbon sources, including but not limited to cellulosic and starch feedstock substrates obtained therefrom. Such examples include for example fermentable sugars such as monosaccharides, disaccharides, and short chain oligosaccharides (e.g., glucose, fructose, xylose, galactose, arabinose, maltose, mannose, and sucrose, fructo-oligosaccharide, galacto-oligosaccharide as well as numerous other sugars; it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular fermentable sugar). Other carbon sources include, but are not limited to saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, alcohols, glycerol, lactose, succinate, ketones, amino acids, acetate, gases (e.g., CO₂), and mixtures thereof.

In some embodiments, the assimilable carbon source is from cellulosic and/or starch feedstock derived from but not limited to, wood, wood pulp, paper pulp, grain (e.g., corn grain), corn stover, corn fiber, rice, paper and pulp processing waste, woody or herbaceous plants and residue, fruit or vegetable pulp, distillers grain, grasses, rice hulls, wheat straw, cotton, hemp, flax, sisal, corn cobs, sugar cane bagasse, sugar beets, sorghum, barely, barely straw, switch grass, wood chips, municipal solid wastes, aquatic crops, and mixtures thereof.

In some embodiments, the cellulosic feedstock useful as an assimilable carbon source has been derived from a biomass substrate that has been pretreated. The term “biomass” is broadly used herein to encompasses any living or dead biological material that contains a polysaccharide substrate, including but not limited to cellulose, starch, other forms of long-chain carbohydrate polymers, and mixtures of such sources. Examples of biomass include, but are not limited to, wood, wood pulp, paper pulp, corn fiber, corn grain, corn cobs, sugar cane, sugar beet, crop residues such as corn husks, corn stover, grasses, wheat, wheat straw, barley, barley straw, hay, rice, rice straw, switchgrass, waste paper, paper and pulp processing waste, woody or herbaceous plants, fruit or vegetable pulp, distillers grain, grasses, rice hulls, cotton, hemp, flax, sisal, sugar cane bagasse, sorghum, soy, switchgrass, components obtained from milling of grains, trees, branches, roots, leaves, wood chips, sawdust, shrubs and bushes, vegetables, fruits, and flowers and any suitable mixtures thereof. In some embodiments, the biomass comprises, but is not limited to cultivated crops (e.g., grasses, including C4 grasses, such as switch grass, cord grass, rye grass, miscanthus, reed canary grass, or any combination thereof), sugar processing residues, for example, but not limited to, bagasse (e.g., sugar cane bagasse, beet pulp (e.g., sugar beet)), or a combination thereof), agricultural residues (e.g., soybean stover, corn stover, corn fiber, rice straw, sugar cane straw, rice, rice hulls, barley straw, corn cobs, wheat straw, canola straw, oat straw, oat hulls, corn fiber, hemp, flax, sisal, cotton, or any combination thereof), fruit pulp, vegetable pulp, distillers' grains, forestry biomass (e.g., wood, wood pulp, paper pulp, recycled wood pulp fiber, sawdust, hardwood, such as aspen wood, softwood, or a combination thereof). Furthermore, in some embodiments, the biomass comprises cellulosic waste material and/or forestry waste materials, including but not limited to, paper and pulp processing waste, municipal paper waste, newsprint, cardboard and the like. In some embodiments, biomass comprises one species of fiber, while in some alternative embodiments, the biomass comprises a mixture of fibers that originate from different biomasses. In some embodiments, the biomass may also comprise transgenic plants that express ligninase and/or cellulase enzymes (See e.g., US 2008/0104724 A1).

In some specific embodiments the invention is directed to a method of producing a fatty alcohol composition comprising culturing a recombinant bacterial microorganism comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”); (b) a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”) and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) in the presence of fermentable sugars obtained from a cellulosic feedstock under suitable culture conditions to produce a fatty alcohol composition wherein the microorganism is cultured at a temperature in the range of 20° C. to 45° C.; a pH in the range of pH 5 to pH 7; and for a time in the range of from 16 hours to 144 hours.

In some embodiments, cellulosic biomass substrate is “pretreated,” using methods known in the art, such as chemical pretreatment (e.g., ammonia pretreatment, dilute acid pretreatment, dilute alkali pretreatment, or solvent exposure), physical pretreatment (e.g., steam explosion or irradiation), mechanical pretreatment (e.g., grinding or milling) and biological pretreatment (e.g., application of lignin-solubilizing microorganisms) and combinations thereof, to increase the susceptibility of cellulose to hydrolysis. In some embodiments, the substrate is slurried prior to pretreatment. The following references described various means of pretreatment. Steam explosion performing acid pretreatment of biomass substrates is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,648. Continuous pretreatment using a slurry is described U.S. Pat. No. 7,754,457. Methods of alkali pretreatment is such as Ammonia Freeze Explosion, Ammonia Fiber Explosion or Ammonia Fiber Expansion (“AFEX”) are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,171,592; 5,037,663; 4,600,590; 6,106,888; 4,356,196; 5,939,544; 6,176,176; 5,037,663 and 5,171,592. Alternative methods to AFEX utilizing a dilute ammonia pretreatments are described in WO2009/045651 and US 2007/0031953. Chemical pretreatments with organic solvents are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,556,430. Other pretreatments methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,465,791, and Weil et al. (1997) Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 68(1-2): 21-40 [1997].

8. Production of Fatty Alcohols

In certain embodiments of the invention, at least about 5%, at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 25%, at least about 30%, at least about 35%, at least about 40%, at least about 45%, at least about 50%, at least about 55%, at least about 60%, at least about 65%, at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, or at least about 95%, of the fatty alcohols produced by the methods described herein are secreted into the culture medium by the recombinant host cells.

In various embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions produced by the methods described herein comprise both saturated and unsaturated fatty alcohols. In certain embodiments, the unsaturated fatty alcohols are monounsaturated fatty alcohols. In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions comprise both saturated and unsaturated fatty alcohols, and the amount of unsaturated fatty alcohols compared to saturated fatty alcohols in the total fatty alcohol composition is less than about 40%, less than about 35%, less than about 30%, less than about 20%, less than about 15%, less than about 10%, less than about 5%, or less than about 1% of the fatty alcohols present in the composition.

In some embodiments, the percentage of saturated fatty alcohols in the fatty alcohol compositions produced by the engineered bacterial cells encompassed by the invention is greater than about 50%, greater than about 55%, greater than about 60%, greater than about 65%, greater than about 70%, greater than about 75%, greater than about 80%, greater than about 85%, greater than about 90%, greater than about 95%, or greater than about 97%.

In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions produced by the methods described herein comprise one or more fatty alcohols selected from 1-decanol (C10:0), 1-dodecanol (C12:0), 1-tetradecanol (C14:0), 1-hexadecanol (C16:0), and 1-octadecanol (C18:0).

In some typical embodiments, 010 to C18 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant host cells of the invention. In some embodiments, C12 to C16 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, or at least about 98% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant host cells of the invention. In certain embodiments, C14 to C16 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 92%, at least about 95%, at least about 97%, or at least about 99% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant cells of the invention. In some embodiments, C12 to C14 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, or at least about 98% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant host cells of the invention. It is understood that a reference to a “Cx fatty alcohol” (e.g., C12) includes both saturated and unsaturated fatty alcohols having “x” carbon atoms.

In some typical embodiments, C10:0 to C18:0 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant cells of the invention. In some embodiments, C12:0 to C16:0 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, or at least about 98% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant host cells of the invention. In certain embodiments, C14:0 to C16:0 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 92%, at least about 95%, at least about 97%, or at least about 99% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant host cells of the invention. In certain embodiments, C12:0 to C14:0 fatty alcohols comprise at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 92%, at least about 95%, at least about 97%, or at least about 99% by weight of the total fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant host cells of the invention. The proportions of saturated and unsaturated fatty alcohols produced by the strains may be calculated after quantifying all the fatty alcohol species using any suitable method known in the art (e.g., GC-FID as described in US 2011/0000125SA1). The saturated fraction represents the sum of all C12:0-OH; C14:0-OH; C16:0-OH and C18:0-OH. While the unsaturated fraction is composed of the sum of C12:1-OH: C14:1-OH: C16:1-OH and C18:1-OH.

In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions produced by the recombinant cells comprise a % of saturated fatty alcohols that is greater than about 55%; greater than about 60%; greater than about 65%; greater than about 70%; greater than about 75%; greater than about 80%; greater than about 85%; greater than about 90%; greater than about 95%; or greater than about 97%. In some additional embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions further comprise at least about 85%, at least about 88%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, or at least about 98% C12 to C16 fatty alcohols; wherein at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 65%, at least 70%, at least 75%, at least 80%, at least 90%, at least 95% of the C12 to C16 fatty alcohols are saturated.

In certain embodiments, the fatty alcohol composition produced by the recombinant cells such as E. coli cells comprise at least 20% (at least 25%, at least 30%, at least 35%, at least 40%, at least 45%, at least 50% or more) of C12 fatty alcohols in the total fatty alcohol composition. In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol composition produced by the recombinant cells such as E. coli cells comprise at least 10%, at least 15%, at least 20%, at least 25%, at least 30%, at least 35%, at least 40%, at least 45%, at least 50% or more of C12 fatty alcohols in the total fatty alcohol composition as compared to a corresponding engineered recombinant cell grown under essentially the same culture conditions.

In certain embodiments, the fatty alcohol composition produced by the recombinant cells such as E. coli cells comprise at least 20% (at least 25%, at least 30%, at least 35%, at least 40%, at least 45%, at least 50% or more) of C14 fatty alcohols in the total fatty alcohol composition. In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol composition produced by the recombinant cells such as E. coli cells comprise at least 10%, at least 15%, at least 20%, at least 25%, at least 30%, at least 35%, at least 40%, at least 45%, at least 50% or more of C14 fatty alcohols in the total fatty alcohol composition as compared to a corresponding engineered recombinant cell grown under essentially the same culture conditions.

In one non-limiting example the cultured engineered bacterial cells comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) comprising at least 90% (at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 35; (b) a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 95% (at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) comprising at least 95% (at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8; is compared to a corresponding engineered recombinant bacterial microorganism which includes the gene encoding the heterologous FAR comprising at least 95% (at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 but does not comprise the gene encoding the heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) comprising at least 90% (at least 93%, at least 95%, at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 35 nor the over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) comprising at least 95% (at least 96%, at least 97% at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8, wherein the cultured engineered bacterial cells are E. coli and said cells produce a fatty alcohol composition comprising at least 20% of C12 fatty alcohols. In all cases, the cultured engineered bacterial cells and the cultured corresponding cells which are being compared to the engineered bacterial cells of the invention will have the same FAR sequence. By way of example and clarification but not limitation, the cultured engineered bacterial cells of the invention and the corresponding bacterial cells in one subset example will both include the same heterologous FAR sequence which is one that comprises at least 98% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39.

In another non-limiting example cultured engineered bacterial cells comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 35; (b) a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8; is compared to a corresponding engineered recombinant bacterial microorganism which includes the gene encoding the heterologous FAR comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 37 or SEQ ID NO: 39 but does not comprise the gene encoding the heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 35 nor the over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8 wherein the cultured engineered bacterial cells are E. coli and said cells produce a fatty alcohol composition comprising at least 20% of C12 fatty alcohols.

In another non-limiting example cultured engineered E. coli cells comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) comprising at least 95% (at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100% sequence identity) to SEQ ID NO: 35; (b) a gene encoding a heterologous FAR comprising at least 97% (at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39 and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8; is compared to a corresponding engineered recombinant bacterial microorganism which includes the gene encoding the heterologous FAR comprising at least 97% (at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39 but does not comprise the gene encoding the heterologous thioesterase (“TE”) comprising at least 95% (at least 96%, at least 97%, at least 98%, at least 99% and even 100% sequence identity) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 35 nor the over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”) comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8 wherein the cultured engineered cells of the invention a fatty alcohol composition comprising at least 50% of C12 fatty alcohols.

In some of the embodiments described above, the cultured engineered bacteria cells will produce a fatty alcohol composition comprising at least 60% (at least 65%, 70%, 75%, and 80%) of a combination of C12, C14, and C16 fatty alcohols.

In certain embodiments, the amount of fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant bacterial cells according to the methods described herein comprise saturated and/or unsaturated C8 to C18 alcohols in a range of about 10 mg/L to about 150 g/L of aqueous nutrient medium, such as in a range of about 10 mg/L to about 125 g/L, about 10 mg/L to about 100 g/L, about 10 mg/L to about 75 g/L, about 10 mg/L to about 50 g/L, about 10 mg/L to about 25 g/L, about 10 mg/L to about 5 g/L or in a range of about 10 mg/L to about 2 g/L of medium, using routine modification of culturing conditions. In some embodiments, the amount of fatty alcohols produced by the methods described herein is at least about 0.5 g/L, at least about 1 g/L, at least about 1.5 g/L, at least about 2.0 g/L, at least about 2.5 g/L, at least about 3 g/L, at least about 3.5 g/L, at least about 4 g/L, at least about 4.5 g/L, at least about 5 g/L, or at least about 10 g/L of medium. In various embodiments, the amount of fatty alcohols produced by the methods described herein is at least about 20 g/L, at least about 30 g/L, at least about 40 g/L, or at least about 50 g/L of medium. In some embodiments, a recombinant bacteria (e.g., E. coli) encompassed by the invention produces C12 to C16 fatty alcohols in an amount of at least about 1.0 g/L, at least about 5.0 g/L, at least about 10 g/L, at least about 15 g/L, at least about 20 g/L, at least about 25 g/L, or at least about 30 g/L of medium. In some embodiments, a recombinant bacteria (e.g., E. coli) encompassed by the invention produces C12 to C14 fatty alcohols in an amount of at least about 1.0 g/L, at least about 5.0 g/L, at least about 10 g/L, at least about 15 g/L, at least about 20 g/L, at least about 25 g/L, or at least about 30 g/L of medium. One method to extract and quantify fatty alcohols is provided in US Patent Application 2011/0000125. However, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular method(s) for extracting and/or quantifying the fatty alcohols produced using the present invention, as any suitable methods find use.

In some embodiments, the amount of fatty alcohols produced by the methods described herein are in at least about 100 mg/g, at least 500 mg/g, at least 1 g/g, at least 2 g/g, at least 5 g/g/at least 6 g/g, at least 7 g/g, at least 8 g/g/at least 9 g/g/at least 10 g/g/at least 12 g/g at least 15 g/g of dry cell weight. In some embodiments the amount of fatty alcohols produced by the methods described herein are in the range of about 100 mg/g to about 15 g/g of dry cell weight and also in the range of about 100 mg/g to about 10 g/g of dry cell weight. In other embodiments, the amount of fatty alcohols produced by the methods described herein is in the range of about 1 g/g to about 12 g/g; about 1 g/g to about 10 g/g; about 1 g/g/to about 5 g/g of dry cell weight, and about 5 g/g to about 10 g/g of dry cell weight.

In certain embodiments, the amount of fatty alcohols produced by the methods described herein is in the range of about 10% to about 20% of dry cell weight, about 20% to about 30% of dry cell weight, about 30% to about 40% of dry cell weight, about 40% to about 50% of dry cell weight, about 50% to about 60% of dry cell weight, about 60% to about 70% of dry cell weight, or about 70% to about 80% of dry cell weight.

In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions produced by the engineered cells and methods described herein may also comprise fatty acid-derived components. Fatty acid derivative compounds include compounds such as but not limited to esters (e.g. acetyl, methyl or ethyl esters and waxes) and fatty acids.

In various embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions produced by the recombinant bacterial cells encompassed by the invention are further recovered or isolated. Recovery or isolation of the produced fatty alcohols refers to substantially separating the fatty alcohols from other components of the culture medium or fermentation process. Recovery or isolation may be accomplished by solvent extraction of the aqueous nutrient medium with a suitable water immiscible solvent. Extraction may occur simultaneously with fatty alcohol production and in some embodiments, extraction is continuous. Phase separation followed by solvent removal provides the fatty alcohol which may then be further purified and fractionated using methods and equipment known in the art. In some other aspects of the invention, the secreted fatty alcohols coalesce to form a water immiscible phase that can be directly separated from the aqueous nutrient medium either during the fermentation process or after its completion.

In certain embodiments, fatty alcohols are isolated by separating the host cells from the aqueous nutrient medium, for example by centrifugation, resuspension and extraction of the fatty alcohols from the recombinant host cells using an organic solvent or solvent mixture. Suitable protocols for recovering fatty alcohols from recombinant host cells and/or culture medium are known to the skilled artisan. In some embodiments, fatty alcohols may be recovered by first lysing the cells to release the fatty alcohols and then extracting the fatty alcohol from the lysate using conventional means. Reference is also made to Yeast Protocols Handbook, (2009) Clontech Laboratories, Inc. A Takara Bio Company, Mt. View Calif. 94043; PNAS 2003 Vol. 100, 16:9156-9161; and Doan et al., (2009) J. Plant Physiol. 166: 787-796 which discloses methods to isolate and measure fatty alcohols produced in E. coli using FARs from Arabidopsis. Indeed, it is intended that any suitable method will find use in the present invention and it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular method(s) for separating host cells from the nutrient medium.

9. Compositions

In yet another aspect, the present invention relates to the use of the engineered organisms as described herein for the production of various compositions, including but not limited to, fuel compositions (e.g., biodiesels and petrodiesels), cleaning compositions including detergent compositions (e.g., laundry detergents in liquid gel, spray, and powder form, hard surface cleaners, dishwashing detergents, and the like); industrial compositions (e.g., lubricants, solvents, and industrial cleaners); and personal care compositions (e.g., soaps, cosmetics, shampoos, gels, etc.).

Detergent Compositions

In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions described herein, and compounds derived therefrom, can be used as components of detergent compositions. Detergent compositions comprising fatty alcohols and fatty alcohol derivatives produced by the methods of the present invention include compositions used in cleaning applications, including, but not limited to, laundry detergents, hand-washing agents, dishwashing detergents, rinse-aid detergents, household detergents, and household cleaners, in liquid, gel, granular, powder, or tablet form. In some embodiments, the fatty alcohols produced by the methods described above are used directly in detergent compositions. In some embodiments, the fatty alcohols and fatty alcohol derivatives are reacted with a sulfonic acid group to produce sulfate derivatives that can be used as components of detergent compositions. Detergent compositions that can be generated using the fatty alcohols and fatty alcohol derivatives produced by the methods of the present invention include, but are not limited to, hair shampoos, rinses, and conditioners for humans and other animals, carpet shampoos, hard surface cleaners, light-duty household cleaners, light-duty household detergents, heavy-duty household cleaners, and heavy-duty household detergents. Detergent compositions generally include, in addition to fatty alcohols and derivative thereof, one or more builders (e.g., sodium carbonate, complexation agents, soap, and zeolites), enzymes (e.g., proteases, lipases, cellulases, and/or amylases); carboxymethyl cellulose, optical brighteners, fabric softeners, colourants and perfumes (e.g., cyclohexyl salicylate). Indeed, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular detergent, detergent formulation, nor detergent use.

In some embodiments, sulfate derivatives (e.g., C12-C15) derived from fatty alcohols are used in products such as hair shampoos, carpet shampoos, light-duty household cleaners, and light-duty household detergents. In some embodiments, sulfate derivatives (e.g., C16-C18) derived from fatty alcohols are used in products such as hair shampoos and conditioners. In some embodiments, sulfate derivatives (e.g., C16-C18) derived from fatty alcohols are used in products such as heavy-duty household cleaners and heavy-duty household detergents. Indeed, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular detergent, detergent formulation, nor detergent use.

Personal Care Compositions

In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions as described herein, and compounds derived therefrom, are used as components in personal care compositions. In some embodiments, the fatty alcohols produced by the methods described above are used directly in personal care compositions. Personal care compositions containing fatty alcohols or fatty alcohol derivatives produced by the methods of the present invention include compositions used for application to the body (e.g., for application to the skin, hair, nails, or oral cavity) for the purposes of grooming, cleaning, beautifying, or caring for the body, including but not limited to lotions, balms, creams, gels, serums, cleansers, toners, masks, sunscreens, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, body washes, styling aids, and cosmetic compositions (e.g., makeup in liquid, cream, solid, anhydrous, or pencil form). In some embodiments, the fatty alcohols or fatty alcohol derivatives can be reacted with a sulfonic acid group to produce sulfate derivatives that can be used as components of said compositions. In some embodiments, sulfate derivatives (e.g., C12 to 14) derived from the fatty alcohol compositions produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as toothpastes. Indeed, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular formulation, nor use.

In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C12) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as lubricating oils, pharmaceuticals, and as an emollient in cosmetics. In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C14) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as cosmetics (e.g., cold creams) for its emollient properties. In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C16) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as cosmetics (e.g., skin creams and lotions) as an emollient, emulsifier, or thickening agent. In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C18) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as lubricants, resins, perfumes, and cosmetics, e.g., as an emollient, emulsifier, or thickening agent. Indeed, it is not intended that the present invention be limited to any particular formulation, nor use.

Other Compositions

In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C12) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as lubricating oils, pharmaceuticals, and as an emollient in cosmetics. In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C14) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as cosmetics (e.g., cold creams) for its emollient properties. In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C16) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as cosmetics (e.g., skin creams and lotions) as an emollient, emulsifier, or thickening agent. In some embodiments, fatty alcohol compositions (e.g., C18) produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as lubricants, resins, perfumes, and cosmetics, e.g., as an emollient, emulsifier, or thickening agent. In some embodiments, sulfate derivatives (e.g., C12 to C14) derived from the fatty alcohol compositions produced by the methods described herein are used in products such as toothpastes.

In some instances, fatty alcohols (especially cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol and myristyl alcohol) may be used as food additives (e.g., adjuvants and production aids).

Alkane and/or Alkene Compositions

In some embodiments, fatty alcohols produced according to the methods described herein can be reduced to yield alkanes and/or alkenes having the same carbon chain length as the fatty alcohol starting materials. Without being bound by any particular theory, the hydroxyl group of an alcohol is a poor leaving group, and therefore, in principle a chemical moiety that binds to the oxygen atom of the hydroxyl group to make it a better leaving group can be used to reduce the fatty alcohols described herein.

Any suitable method known in the art can be used to reduce the fatty alcohols. In some embodiments, reduction of fatty alcohols is carried out chemically, for example, by a Barton deoxygenation (or Barton-McCombie deoxygenation), a two-step reaction in which the alcohol is first converted to a methyl xanthate or thioimidazoyl carbamate, and the xanthate or thioimidazoyl carbamate is reduced with a tin hydride or trialkylsilane reagent under radical conditions to produce the alkane and/or alkene. See Li et al., 2007, Modern Organic Synthesis in the Laboratory, p. 81-83. In another embodiment, alkanes are produced by hydrogenation of fatty alcohols.

The alkanes can be isolated from the reaction mixture (which may contain unreduced fatty alcohols) to yield a composition comprising substantially all alkanes Alternatively, the alkanes and un-reduced fatty alcohols can be isolated from the reaction mixture to yield a composition comprising alkanes and fatty alcohols. In some embodiments, the fatty alcohol compositions comprise at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 92%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% alkanes by weight of the composition after reduction. In some embodiments, the alkane is octane, decane, dodecane, tetradecane, hexadecane, octadecane, icosane, docosane, tetracosane, or mixtures thereof.

Ester Compositions

In other embodiments, fatty alcohols are reacted with a carboxylic acid to form acid esters. Esterification reactions of fatty alcohols are well-known in the art. In certain embodiments, the transesterification reaction is carried out in the presence of a strong catalyst, e.g., a strong alkaline such as sodium hydroxide. In other embodiments, the esterification reaction is carried out enzymatically, using an enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of fatty alcohols to acid esters, such as lipoprotein lipase. See, e.g., Tsujita et al., 1999, “Fatty Acid Alcohol Ester-Synthesizing Activity of Lipoprotein Lipase” J. Biochem. 126:1074-1079.

10. Examples

The following examples are offered to illustrate, but not to limit, the claimed invention.

The present invention is described in further detail in the following Examples, which are not in any way intended to limit the scope of the invention as claimed. In the experimental disclosure below, the following abbreviations apply: ppm (parts per million); M (molar); mM (millimolar), uM and μM (micromolar); nM (nanomolar); mol (moles); gm and g (gram); mg (milligrams); ug and μg (micrograms); L and l (liter); ml and mL (milliliter); cm (centimeters); mm (millimeters); um and μm (micrometers); sec. (seconds); min(s) (minute(s)); h(s) (hour(s)); U (units); LB (Luria-Bertani); MW (molecular weight); rpm (rotations per minute); ° C. (degrees Centigrade); wt % (weight percent); w.r.t. (with regard to); Δ (deletion); DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid); PCR (polymerase chain reaction); RNA (ribonucleic acid); gDNA (genomic DNA); cDNA (complementary DNA); Sigma (Sigma Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.); Qiagen (Qiagen, Inc., Valencia, Calif.); Invitrogen (Invitrogen, Corp., Carlsbad, Calif.); and Promega (Promega, Corp., Madison, Wis.).

Example 1 Construction of Plasmid pLS8379

To overproduce the FAR enzyme having SEQ ID NO:2 in E. coli, a low copy vector carrying the strong Trc promoter was constructed. A DNA fragment containing the laclq gene, the Trc promoter, and the multiple cloning sites present in pTrcHis2-B (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) was PCR amplified using the following primers:

1920TrcM-F (SEQ ID NO: 17) 5′-GACCTTAAAACCCTAAAGGCTTAAGGGCATCCGCTTACAGACA and 1920TrcM-R (SEQ ID NO: 18) 5′-GGAGAAAATACCGCATCAGGCGCCTCAGGAGAGCGTTCACCGAC.

The PCR reaction was carried out using the enzyme Phusion (New England BioLabs, Ipswich, Mass.) with an initial denaturation step at 98° C. for 30 sec, followed by 25 cycles of the steps: 98° C. for 10 sec; 65° C. for 15 sec and 72° C. for 15 sec. This was followed by a final elongation step at 72° C. for 5 min.

The primers used for this PCR reaction carry regions of homology to plasmid pCL1920. Because of this, the PCR product described above can be used as a megaprimer to amplify a defined region of pCL1920 (Lerner and Inouye (1990) NAR 18: 4631) which contains the pSC101 origin of replication and confers resistance to Spectinomycin (GenBank: AB236930). This PCR reaction was carried out using the Pfu Ultra enzyme (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, Calif.) with an initial denaturation step at 95° C. for 2 min, followed by 16 cycles of the steps: 95° C. for 30 sec; 55° C. for 30 sec and 68° C. for 7 min. This was followed by a final elongation step at 68° C. for 7 min. The outcome of the second PCR reaction was sequence-verified and the resulting plasmid was named pLS8379 (SEQ ID NO: 15).

Example 2 Construction of pCL5019 Comprising a Polynucleotide Encoding the FAR Variant

A synthetic gene (SEQ ID NO: 3) encoding the FAR polypeptide having SEQ ID NO: 4 was ligated as NcoI-SaII fragments to pLS8379 and digested with the same restriction enzymes. Ligation reactions were incubated overnight at 16° C. and transformed into E. coli DH10B-T1 electrocompetent cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) following the manufacturer's protocols. Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 micrograms/ml of Spectinomycin. Plates were incubated overnight at 37° C. Obtained clones were sequence verified.

Example 3 Construction of pCDX11

To obtain a tightly regulated gene expression vector, the P_(TRC) promoter present in pLS8379 was replaced with a synthetic DNA fragment containing a P_(TRC) variant where a symmetrical Lac operator [Sadler et al., 1983, PNAS. 80: 6785-6789] was introduced upstream of the −35 region of P_(TRC). This promoter was synthesized as an EcoRV-NcoI DNA fragment (GeneScript, Piscataway, N.J.) (SEQ ID NO: 19) and used to replace the EcoRV-NcoI region from pLS8379 previously cut with the same restriction enzymes. A ligation reaction containing the two DNA fragments was incubated overnight at 16° C. and then transformed into E. coli Top10 electrocompetent cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) following the manufacturer's protocols. Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 micrograms/ml of Spectinomycin. Plates were then incubated overnight at 37° C. Obtained clones were sequence verified.

SEQ ID NO: 19 GATATCTCGGTAGTGGGATACGACGATACCGAAGACAGCTCATGTTATATCCCGCCGTTAAC CACCATCAAACAGGATTTTCGCCTGCTGGGGCAAACCAGCGTGGACCGCTTGCTGCAACTCT CTCAGGGCCAGGCGGTGAAGGGCAATCAGCTGTTGCCCGTCTCACTGGTGAAAAGAAAAACC ACCCTGGCGCCCAATACGCAAACCGCCTCTCCCCGCGCGTTGGCCGATTCATTAATGCAGCT GGCACGACAGGTTTCCCGACTGGAAAGCGGGCAGTAATAATTTAAATTGGTTTGACAGCTTA TCATCGACTGCACGGTGCACCAATGCTTCTGGCGTCAGGCAGCCATCGGAAGCTGTGGTATG GCTGTGCAGGTCGTAAATCACTGCATAATTCGTGTCGCTCAAGGCGCACTCCCGTTCTGGAT AATGTTTTTTGCGCCGACATAATTGTGAGCGCTCACAATTTCTGAAATGAGCTGTTGACAAT TAATCATCCGGCTCGTATAATGTGTGGAATTGTGAGCGGATAACAATTTCACACAGGAAACA GCGCCGCTGAGAAAAAGCGAAGCGGCACTGCTCTTTAACAATTTATCAGACAATCTGTGTGG GCACTCGACCGGAATTATCGATTAACTTTATTATTAAAAATTAAAGGAGGAATAAACCATGG

Example 4 Construction of pCK900-FadD Plasmid

The plasmid pCK900-FadD which comprises a fadD polynucleotide encoding a FadD enzyme having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8. The native E. coli fadD gene (SEQ ID NO: 7) was PCR amplified using the following primers containing SfiI restriction enzyme site:

fadD F5-fwd (SEQ ID NO: 20) 5′ACAATCTAGAGGCCAGCCTGGCCATAAGGAGATATACATATGAAGAAG GTTTGGCTTAACCGTTATCCCGCGG, and fadD F3-fwd (SEQ ID NO: 21) 3′ATCATGGTGATGGTGGCCAGTTTGGCCTCATTAGGCTTTATTGTC CA CTTTGCCGCGCGCTTCG.

The PCR product was digested with SfiI restriction enzyme (New England Biolab) and inserted into linearized pCK900i-bla plasmid (SEQ ID NO: 16) with SfiI restriction enzyme.

SEQ ID NO: 16 Polynucleotide sequence of pCK900i-bla. TCGAGTTAATTAAGGCAGTGAGCGCAACGCAATTAATGTGAGTTAGCTCACTCATTAGGCAC CCCAGGCTTTACACTTTATGCTTCCGGCTCGTATGTTGTGTGGAATTGTGAGCGGATAACAA TTTCACACAGGAAACAGCTATGACCATGATTACGGATTCACTGGCCGTCGTTTTACAATCTA GAGGCCAGCCTGGCCATAAGGAGATATACATATGAGTATTCAACATTTCCGTGTCGCCCTTA TTCCCTTTTTTGCGGCATTTTGCCTTCCTGTTTTTGCTCACCCAGAAACGCTGGTGAAAGTA AAAGATGCTGAAGATCAGTTGGGTGCACGAGTGGGTTACATCGAACTGGATCTCAACAGCGG TAAGATCCTTGAGAGTTTTCGCCCCGAAGAGCGTTTTCCAATGATGAGCACTTTTAAAGTTC TGCTATGTGGCGCGGTATTATCCCGTGTTGACGCCGGGCAAGAGCAACTCGGTCGCCGCATA CACTATTCTCAGAATGACTTGGTTGAGTACTCACCAGTCACAGAAAAGCATCTTACGGATGG CATGACAGTAAGAGAATTATGCAGTGCTGCCATAACCATGAGTGATAACACTGCGGCCAACT TACTTCTGACAACGATCGGAGGACCGAAGGAGCTAACCGTTTTTTTGCACACCATGGGGGAT CATGTAACTCGCCTTGATCGTTGGGAACCGGAGCTGAATGAAGCCATACCAAACGACGAGCG TGACACCACGATGCCTACAGCAATGGCAACAACGTTGCGCAAACTATTAACTGGCGAACTAC TTACTCTAGCTTCCCGGCAACAATTAATAGACTGGATGGAGGCGGATAAAGTTGCAGGACCA CTTCTGCGCTCGGCCCTTCCGGCTGGCTGGTTTATTGCTGATAAATCTGGAGCCGGTGAGCG TGGGTCTCGCGGTATCATTGCAGCACTGGGGCCAGATGGTAAGCCCTCCCGTATCGTAGTTA TCTACACGACGGGGAGTCAGGCAACTATGGATGAACGAAATAGACAGATCGCTGAGATAGGT GCCTCACTGATTAAGCATTGGGGCCAAACTGGCCACCATCACCATCACCATTAGGGAAGAGC AGATGGGCAAGCTTGACCTGTGAAGTGAAAAATGGCGCACATTGTGCGACATTTTTTTTTGA ATTCTACGTAAAAAGCAGCCGATACATCGGCTGCTTTTTTTTTGNNNGAGGTTCCAACTTGT GGTATAATGAAATAAGATCACTCCGGAGCGTATTTTTTGAGTTATCGAGATTTTCAGGAGCT AAGGAGGAACTAAAATGGAGAAAAAAATCACTGGATATACCACCGTTGATATATCCCAATGG CATCGTAAAGAACATTTTGAGGCATTTCAGTCAGTTGCTCAATGTACCTATAACCAGACCGT TCAGCTGGATATTACGGCCTTTTTAAAGACCGTAAAGAAAAATAAGCACAAGTTTTATCCGG CCTTTATTCACATTCTTGCCCGCCTGATGAATGCTCATCCGGAGTTCCGTATGGCAATGAAA GACGGTGAGCTGGTGATATGGGATAGTGTTCACCCTTGTTACACCGTTTTCCATGAGCAAAC TGAAACGTTTTCATCGCTCTGGAGTGAATACCACGACGATTTCCGGCAGTTTCTACACATAT ATTCGCAAGATGTGGCGTGTTACGGTGAAAACCTGGCCTATTTCCCTAAAGGGTTTATTGAG AATATGTTTTTCGTCTCAGCCAATCCCTGGGTGAGTTTCACCAGTTTTGATTTAAACGTGGC CAATATGGACAACTTCTTCGCCCCCGTTTTCACCATGGGCAAATATTATACGCAAGGCGACA AGGTGCTGATGCCGCTGGCGATTCAGGTTCATCATGCCGTCTGTGATGGCTTCCATGTCGGC AGAATGCTTAATGAATTACAACAGTACTGCGATGAGTGGCAGGGCGGGGCGTAACTGCAGGA GCTCAAACAGCAGCCTGTATTCAGGCTGCTTTTTTCGTTTTGGTCTGCGCGTAATCTCTTGC TCTGAAAACGAAAAAACCGCCTTGCAGGGCGGTTTTTCGAAGGTTCTCTGAGCTACCAACTC TTTGAACCGAGGTAACTGGCTTGGAGGAGCGCAGTCACCAAAACTTGTCCTTTCAGTTTAGC CTTAACCGGCGCATGACTTCAAGACTAACTCCTCTAAATCAATTACCAGTGGCTGCTGCCAG TGGTGCTTTTGCATGTCTTTCCGGGTTGGACTCAAGACGATAGTTACCGGATAAGGCGCAGC GGTCGGACTGAACGGGGGGTTCGTGCATACAGTCCAGCTTGGAGCGAACTGCCTACCCGGAA CTGAGTGTCAGGCGTGGAATGAGACAAACGCGGCCATAACAGCGGAATGACACCGGTAAACC GAAAGGCAGGAACAGGAGAGCGCACGAGGGAGCCGCCAGGGGGAAACGCCTGGTATCTTTAT AGTCCTGTCGGGTTTCGCCACCACTGATTTGAGCGTCAGATTTCGTGATGCTTGTCAGGGGG GCGGAGCCTATGGAAAAACGGCTTTGCCGCGGCCCTCTCACTTCCCTGTTAAGTATCTTCCT GGCATCTTCCAGGAAATCTCCGCCCCGTTCGTAAGCCATTTCCGCTCGCCGCAGTCGAACGA CCGAGCGTAGCGAGTCAGTGAGCGAGGAAGCGGAATATATCCTGTATCACATATTCTGCTGA CGCACCGGTGCAGCCTTTTTTCTCCTGCCACATGAAGCACTTCACTGACACCCTCATCAGTG AACCACCGCTGGTAGCGGTGGTTTTTTTAGGCCTATGGCCTTTTTTTTTTNTGNNAAACCTT TCGCGGTATGGNATNANAGCGCCCGGAAGAGAGTCAATTAAGAGGGTGGTGAATGTGAAACC AGTAACGTTATACGATGTCGCAGAGTATGCCGGTGTCTCTTATCAGACCGTTTCCCGCGTGG TGAACCAGGCCAGCCACGTTTCTGCGAAAACGCGGGAAAAAGTGGAAGCGGCGATGGCGGAG CTGAATTACATTCCCAACCGCGTGGCACAACAACTGGCGGGCAAACAGTCGTTGCTGATTGG CGTTGCCACCTCCAGTCTGGCCCTGCACGCGCCGTCGCAAATTGTCGCGGCGATTAAATCTC GCGCCGATCAACTGGGTGCCAGCGTGGTGGTGTCGATGGTAGAACGAAGCGGCGTCGAAGCC TGTAAAGCGGCGGTGCACAATCTTCTCGCGCAACGCGTCAGTGGGCTGATCATTAACTATCC GCTGGATGACCAGGATGCCATTGCTGTGGAAGCTGCCTGCACTAATGTTCCGGCGTTATTTC TTGATGTCTCTGACCAGACACCCATCAACAGTATTATTTTCTCCCATGAAGACGGTACGCGA CTGGGCGTGGAGCATCTGGTCGCATTGGGTCACCAGCAAATCGCGCTGTTAGCGGGCCCATT AAGTTCTGTCTCGGCGCGTCTGCGTCTGGCTGGCTGGCATAAATATCTCACTCGCAATCAAA TTCAGCCGATAGCGGAACGGGAAGGCGACTGGAGTGCCATGTCCGGTTTTCAACAAACCATG CAAATGCTGAATGAGGGCATCGTTCCCACTGCGATGCTGGTTGCCAACGATCAGATGGCGCT GGGCGCAATGCGCGCCATTACCGAGTCCGGGCTGCGCGTTGGTGCGGACATCTCGGTAGTGG GATACGACGATACCGAAGACAGCTCATGTTATATCCCGCCGTTAACCACCATCAAACAGGAT TTTCGCCTGCTGGGGCAAACCAGCGTGGACCGCTTGCTGCAACTCTCTCAGGGCCAGGCGGT GAAGGGCAATCAGCTGTTGCCCGTCTCACTGGTGAAAAGAAAAACCACCCTGGCGCCCAATA CGCAAACCGCCTCTCCCCGCGCGTTGGCCGATTCATTAATGCAGCTGGCACGACAGGTTTCC CGACTGGAAAGCGGGCAGTGAGCGGTACCCGATAAAAGCGGCTTCCTGACAGGAGGCCGTTT TGTTTC

Ligation reactions were incubated overnight at 16° C. and then transformed into E. coli DH10B-T1 electrocompetent cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) following the manufacturer's instructions. Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 30 ug/ml of chloramphoenicol and 1% glucose. Plates were incubated overnight at 37° C. Obtained clones were sequence verified.

Example 5 Construction of pCDX11-7076 Plasmid

The plasmid pCDX11-7076 comprising the FAR-V2 polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO:5 encoding the FAR-V2 enzyme having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:6 was constructed as described below. A DNA fragment containing the FAR-V2 gene was PCR amplified using the following primers:

7076_NcoI_F (SEQ ID NO: 22) 5′-TAAACCATGGCGACTCAACAACAGAACA, and 7076_SalI_R (SEQ ID NO: 23) 5′-CTATGTCGACTTAGGCGGTTTTATCGTCAGTATCA.

The restriction enzyme sites NcoI and SaII were incorporated into 7076_NcoI_F and 7076_SaII_R respectively, allowing ligation into pCDX11 (See, example 3) digested with NcoI and SaII. Ligation reactions were incubated overnight at 16° C. and then transformed into E. coli TOP10 chemically competent cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) using standard techniques. Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 ug/ml of Spectinomycin and incubated overnight at 37° C. Obtained clones were sequence verified. The cycling conditions and reactions were applied according to the manufacturers' instructions, unless otherwise specified.

Example 6 Construction of pCDX11-7076-BTE-FadD Plasmid

The plasmid pCDX11-7076-BTE-FadD comprising a polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO: 34) encoding an acyl-ACP thioesterase (BTE) from Umbellularia californica having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 35 and a polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO: 7) encoding a FadD enzyme having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 was constructed by cloning these two polynucleotides into pCDX11-7076 that was shown in example 5.

The polynucleotide encoding DNA sequence of BTE (SEQ ID NO:34) was synthesized by GenScript (Piscataway, N.J.) and the synthesized gene was PCR amplified using the following primers:

BTE2_SalI_F (SEQ ID NO: 24) 5′-TGATACTGACGATAAAACCGCCTAAGTCGACAAGG AGGAATAAACCATGACAATGATTACGCCGAGCT, and BTE_R (SEQ ID NO: 25) 5′-TTATACCCGCGGCTCGGCCGG.

The native E. coli fadD gene (SEQ ID NO: 7) was PCR amplified from pCK900-FadD (shown in example 4) plasmid using the following primers:

7076_fadD_F (SEQ ID NO: 26) 5′-CCGGCCGAGCCGCGGGTATAAAAGGAGATATACAT ATGAAGAAGGTTTGGCTTAACCG, and fadD_BgIII_R (SEQ ID NO: 27) 5′-CCGAGTAAGTTCTAGATCTTCATTAGGCTTTATTG TCCACTTTGC.

These two PCR amplified fragments were combined using SOE PCR (splicing by overlap extension PCR) standard protocol (See, Warrens et al., 1997 Gene 186(1):29) and gel purified using NucleoSpin Extract II kit (Clontech Laboratories Inc. Mountain View, Calif.) and then 250 ng of the purified PCR product was inserted into 150 ng of linearized pCDX11-7076 plasmid with SaII and BgIII restriction enzymes using the CloneEZ Kit (GenScript, Piscataway, N.J.) according to manufacturer's instructions. The CloneEZ reaction mixture was transformed into chemically competent E. coli TOP10 (Invitrogen, CA) cells using standard molecular biology methods. The transformed cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 μg/ml of spectinomycin. Plates were incubated overnight at 37° C. Clones were sequence-verified and the plasmid was named pCDX117076-BTE-FadD.

Example 7 Construction of pCDX11-5019 Plasmid

The plasmid pCDX11-5019 comprising the FAR-V1 polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO:3 encoding the FAR-V1 enzyme having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4 was constructed as described below. A DNA fragment containing the FAR-V1 gene was PCR amplified using the following primers:

5019_NcoI_F (SEQ ID NO: 28) 5′-tgtggaattgtgagcggata and 5019_Sa1I_R (SEQ ID NO: 29) 5′-CGCTTCTGCGTTCTGATTT.

The restriction enzyme sites NcoI and SaII were incorporated into 5019_NcoI_F and 5019_SaII_R respectively, allowing ligation into pCDX11 (See, example 3) digested with NcoI and SaII. Ligation reactions were incubated overnight at 16° C. and then transformed into E. coli TOP10 chemically competent cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) using standard techniques. Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 ug/ml of Spectinomycin and incubated overnight at 37° C. Obtained clones were sequence verified. The cycling conditions and reactions were applied according to the manufacturers' instructions, unless otherwise specified.

Example 8 Construction of pCDX11-5019-BTE-FadD Plasmid

The plasmid pCDX11-5019-BTE-FadD comprising a polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO: 34) encoding an acyl-ACP thioesterase (BTE) from Umbellularia californica having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 35 and a polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO: 7) encoding a FadD enzyme having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 8 was constructed by cloning these two polynucleotides into pCDX11-5019 that was shown in Example 7.

The polynucleotide encoding DNA sequence of BTE (SEQ ID NO:34) was synthesized by GenScript (Piscataway, N.J.) and the synthesized gene was PCR amplified using the following primers:

BTE_SalI_F  (SEQ ID NO: 30) 5′ TGATACTGACGATAAAACCGCCTAAGTCGACAAGG AGGAATAAACCATGACCTTAGAGTGGAAACCAAAAC, and BTE_R (SEQ ID NO: 31) 5′-TTATACCCGCGGCTCGGCCGG.

The native E. coli fadD gene (SEQ ID NO: 7) was PCR amplified from pCK900-FadD (shown in example 4) plasmid using the following primers:

5019_fadD_F (SEQ ID NO: 32) 5′-CCGGCCGAGCCGCGGGTATAAAAGGAGATATACAT ATGAAGAAGGTTTGGCTTAACCG and fadD_BgIII_R (SEQ ID NO: 33) 5′-CCGAGTAAGTTCTAGATCTTCATTAGGCTTTATTG TCCACTTTGC.

These two PCR amplified fragments were combined using SOE PCR (splicing by overlap extension PCR) standard protocol (See, Warrens et al., 1997 Gene 186(1):29) and gel purified using NucleoSpin Extract II kit (Clontech Laboratories Inc. Mountain View, Calif.) and then 250 ng of the purified PCR product was inserted into 150 ng of linearized pCDX11-5019 plasmid with SaII and BgIII restriction enzymes using the CloneEZ Kit (GenScript, Piscataway, N.J.) according to manufacturer's instructions. The CloneEZ reaction mixture was transformed into chemically competent E. coli TOP10 (Invitrogen, CA) cells using standard molecular biology methods. The transformed cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 μg/ml of spectinomycin. Plates were incubated overnight at 37° C. Clones were sequence-verified and the plasmid was named pCDX11-5019-BTE-FadD.

Example 9 Generating W3110 ΔfhuA Strain Harboring pCDX117076-BTE-FadD Plasmid or pCDX115019-BTE-FadD Plasmid

Electrocompetent cells of E. coli W3110 ΔfhuA were prepared as follows. The culture was grown in LB media to an OD₆₀₀ of ˜0.6 and concentrated 100-fold by centrifugation. The cells were washed three times with ice-cold sterile water, and then washed once with ice-cold 10% glycerol. The plasmid pCDX11-7076-BTE-FadD (see examples 6 and 7) was introduced into the electrocompetent E. coli W3110 ΔfhuA using standard molecular biology methods (Dower et al., 1988 NAR 16:6127-6145).

Example 10 Fatty Alcohol Production

Recombinant E. coli host strains comprising a plasmid including heterologous genes as specified were grown in M9 medium supplemented with 1% glucose, 2 g/L yeast extract and the specified antibiotic selection, for approximately 16-18 hours (overnight) at 30° C., 200 rpm. A 5% inoculum was used to initiate fresh M9 media, 5% glucose and 2 g/L yeast extract containing the specified antibiotic. The culture was incubated in a shaker for 2.5 hours at 30° C. and at 250 rpm to an OD₆₀₀ of about 0.6 to about 0.8. The expression of the heterologous FAR was then induced with isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG) (1 mM final concentration). Incubation was continued for about 48 hours under the same conditions. Fatty acid species including fatty alcohols were extracted using 1 mL of methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) into 500 μl of cell culture, sealed tightly and shaken for ≧2.5 h. The extract was centrifuged and analyzed directly by GC-FID. A 1 μL sample was analyzed by GC-FID with the split ratio 1:10 using the following conditions: GC-6890N from Agilent Technologies equipped with FID detector and HP-5 column (length 30 m, I.D. 0.32 mm, film 0.25 μm). GC method: start at 100° C., increase the temperature with a rate of 25° C./min to 246° C. and hold for 1.96 min. Total run time was 7.8 min. Under the above GC conditions, the approximate retention times (min) of produced fatty alcohols and acids were as follows: 1.81, C10:0-OH; 2.47, C12:0-OH; 5.08, C14:0-OH; 5.40, C14:0-OOH; 5.74, C16:1-OH; 5.93, C16:0-OH; 6.11, C16:0-OOMe (internal standard); 6.16, C16:1-OOH; 6.29, C16:0-OOH; 6.80, C18:1-OH; 6.90, C18:0-OH; and 7.3, C18:0- and C18:1-OOH. The results of fatty alcohol production under these conditions are depicted in Table 1. Identification of individual fatty alcohols was determined by comparison to commercial standards (Sigma Chemical Company, 6050 Spruce St. Louis, Mo. 63103).

TABLE 1 Fatty alcohol production when glucose is the carbon source. % % % % % Strain saturation C12—OH C14 C16 C18 W3110 ΔfhuA 62.6 ± 0.8 ± 42.2 ± 52.3 ± 4.6 ± strain harboring 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.05 pCDX115019 W3110 ΔfhuA 61 ± 29 ± 29.1 ± 38.4 ± 3.3 ± strain harboring 0.05 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.1 pCDX115019- BTE-FadD W3110 ΔfhuA 61.8 ± 8.9 ± 56.7 ± 32.8 ± 1.7 ± strain harboring 0.6 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.03 pCDX117076 W3110 ΔfhuA 63 ± 30 ± 39.8 ± 28.5 ± 1.5 ± strain harboring 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.2 0.02 pCDX117076- BTE-FadD % as measured by calculating the individual fatty alcohols as part of the sum of all fatty alcohol measured. % C10 and % C12—OOH were not detectable.

Example 11 Construction of W3110K Δ4 Strain

Experiments conducted to construct the E. coli strain W3110K-Δ4 which is also suitable for large-scale fermentation processes are described below. Four deletions were made to the E. coli W3110K (CGSC): ΔfhuA; ΔldhA; ΔadhE and genes involved in colanic acid biosynthesis Δwza-wcaM. Each of the four deletions was carried out in a two-step process using lambda-RED technology known in the art (See, Datta et al., Gene 379:109-115 (2006)). In the first step, the gene(s) of interest was replaced with a dsDNA cassette encoding a kanamycin resistance marker (Km). In the second step, the Km marker was seamlessly removed from the genome using a ssDNA oligo using methods known in the art (See, Datta et al., supra). To exemplify this process, the deletion of the fhuA gene is described below.

For the deletion of fhuA, a dsDNA kanamycin resistance cassette was first PCR amplified from plasmid pKD13 (CGSC) using the following primers:

fhuA-deletion_F: (SEQ ID NO: 40) 5′ACGTTATCATTCACTTTACATCAGAGATATACCAAT GGCGATTCCGGGGATCCGTCGACC-3′ fhuA-deletion_R: (SEQ ID NO: 41) 5′AGAGAAATTAGAAACGGAAGGTTGCGGTTGCAACGA CCTGTGTAGGCTGGAGCTGCTTCG-3′

The PCR reaction was carried out using the enzyme PHUSION® DNA polymerase (New England BioLabs) with an initial denaturation step at 98° C. for 30 sec, followed by 30 cycles of the steps: 98° C. for 5 sec; 63° C. for 20 sec and 72° C. for 40 sec. This was followed by a final elongation step at 72° C. for 5 min. After the PCR reaction, the PCR product was purified through a PCR purification column (Qiagen) and eluted with water.

Strain W3110K was transformed with plasmid pSIM5 (Datta et al., supra). Homologous recombination-proficient electrocompetent cells were prepared as described by Datta et al., (supra), and were transformed with 500 ng of the kanamycin cassette. Cells were recovered at 32° C. for three hours, plated on LB agar plates containing 20 ug/ml of kanamycin, and incubated 24 hours at 32° C. A single colony was streaked onto a fresh LB agar plate with 30 ug/ml chloramphenicol (to maintain the pSIM5 plasmid) and a purified colony confirmed to have the fhuA gene replaced with the kanamycin cassette was named W3110K-ΔfhuA::Km.

The kanamycin marker was removed from the cells using homologous recombination with a ssDNA oligonucleotide. Homologous recombination proficient electrocompetent cells were prepared from strain W3110K-ΔfhuA::Km with the pSIM5 plasmid as described above and the cells were transformed with 500 ng of the oligonucleotide (fhuA(2-10)_del_oligo) shown below. In this sequence, the “*” indicates the presence of phosphorothioate bonds. This oligonucleotide contains four bases that were modified during synthesis of the oligonucleotide by the manufacturer (GenScript). It is known that these modifications make the oligonucleotide resistant to certain cellular nucleases.

fhuA(2-10)_del_oligo: (SEQ ID NO: 42) 5′-A*G*A*G*AAATTAGAAACGGAAGGTTGCGGTTGC AACGACCTGCGCCATTGGTATATCTCTGATGTAAAGTG AATGATAACGT-3′

Cells were recovered at 32° C. for five hours and dilutions were plated on LB agar plates and incubated 24 hours at 32° C. Petri plates with cell dilutions resulting in about 500 colonies/dish were replica plated onto fresh LB (Difco) and LA (Difco) plus kanamycin plates. A kanamycin sensitive colony was struck onto a fresh LA (Difco) plate with 30 micrograms/ml chloramphenicol (to maintain the pSIM5 plasmid) and a purified colony confirmed to have the correct, seamless deletion of the Km cassette, was named W3110K-ΔfhuA.

The subsequent deletions of the ldhA and adhE genes and all the genes of the region wza to wcaM were performed as described above for the fhuA gene. The primers for amplifying the dsDNA cassette from pKD13 and the oligos used for the seamless deletion of the markers, are shown below for each of the ldhA and adhE genes and the wza-wcaM genes:

IdhA-deletion_F: (SEQ ID NO: 43) 5′AGCTTAAATGTGATTCAACATCACTGGAGAAAGTCTTATGATTC CGGGGATCCGTCGACC-3′; IdhA-deletion_R: (SEQ ID NO: 44) 5′ATGCAGGGGAGCGGCAAGATTAAACCAGTTCGTTCGGGCATGTA GGCTGGAGCTGCTTCG-3′; IdhA(1-6)_del_oligo: (SEQ ID NO: 45) 5′A*G*C*T*TAAATGTGATTCAACATCACTGGAGAAAGTCTTATG TGCCCGAACGAACTGGTTTAATCTTGCCGCTCCCCTGCAT-3′; (* = phosphorothioate bonds) adhE-deletion_F: (SEQ ID NO: 46) 5′ATTTACTAAAAAAGTTTAACATTATCAGGAGAGCATTATGATTC CGGGGATCCGTCGACC-3′; adhE-deletion_R: (SEQ ID NO: 47) 5′TGCCAGACAGCGCTACTGATTAAGCGGATTTTTTCGCTTTTGTA GGCTGGAGCTGCTTCG-3′; adhE(1-6)_del_oligo: (SEQ ID NO: 48) 5′A*T*T*T*ACTAAAAAAGTTTAACATTATCAGGAGAGCATTATG AAAGCGAAAAAATCCGCTTAATCAGTAGCGCTGTCTGGCA-3′; (* = phosphorothioate bonds) wza-deletion_F: (SEQ ID NO: 49) 5′AGGATAATTACTCTGCCAAAGTGATAAATAAACAATGATGATTC CGGGGATCCGTCGACC-3′; wcaM-deletion_R: (SEQ ID NO: 50) 5′GCAATCTAAAGTTAATCTTCTCCACATTAACAATATGGTGTGTA GGCTGGAGCTGCTTCG-3′; and wza-wcaM(2-18)_del_oligo: (SEQ ID NO: 51) 5′G*C*A*A*TCTAAAGTTAATCTTCTCCACATTAACAATATGGTG CATCATTGTTTATTTATCACTTTGGCAGAGTAATTATCCT-3′,. (* = phosphorothioate bonds)

The final strain was confirmed by DNA sequencing to have seamless deletions of all four loci and was named “W3110K-Δ4” (W3110K-ΔfhuA-ΔldhA-ΔadhE-Δwza-wcaM).

Example 12 Construction of pCDX11-8087-MCS Plasmid

The plasmid pCDX11-8087-MCS comprising a polynucleotide (SEQ ID NO:36) encoding FAR-V3 (SEQ ID: 37) was constructed as follows: A DNA fragment containing the FAR-V3 gene was PCR amplified using the primers:

8087_NcoI_F: (SEQ ID NO: 52) 5′ TAAACCATGGCGACTCAACAACAGAACA and 8087_SalI_R: (SEQ ID NO: 53) 5′ CTATGTCGACTTAGGCGGTTTTATCGTCAGTATCA.

The PCR reaction was carried out using the Phusion polymerase (New England BioLabs, Ipswich, Mass.) with an initial denaturation step at 98° C. for 30 sec, followed by 25 cycles of the steps: 98° C. for 10 sec; 60° C. for 20 sec and 72° C. for 15 sec/kb. This was followed by a final extension step at 72° C. for 5 min. After PCR, the resulting DNA fragment was purified by gel-extraction using a Zymoclean Gel DNA Recovery Kit. As the restriction enzyme sites NcoI and SaII were incorporated into the primers 8087_NcoI_F and 8087_SaII_R respectively, this allowed the ligation of this PCR product into pCDX11 digested with NcoI and SaII restriction enzymes accordingly the manufacturer conditions (New England BioLabs, Ipswich, Mass.). Ligation reactions were incubated overnight at 16° C. and then transformed into E. coli TOP10 chemically competent cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) using standard techniques. Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 ug/ml of Spectinomycin and incubated overnight at 37° C. Obtained clones were sequence verified. A clone with the correct sequence was designated pCDX11-8087-MCS.

Example 13 Construction of pCDX11-8087-BTE-fadD

To produce fatty alcohols from acyl-CoA intermediates instead of acyl-ACP intermediates using FAR-V3 variant, a plasmid overexpressing FAR-V3, the California Bay tree thioesterase (BTE) and the E. coli acyl-CoA synthase gene (FadD) was constructed as follows. The polynucleotide encoding variant FAR-V3 (SEQ ID NO: 36) was PCR amplified using pCDX118087-MCS described in Example 11 above, using the following primers:

5′ cloning site + RBS1:FAR 8087- (SEQ ID NO: 54) 5′ ccggaattatcgattaactttattattaaaaattaaaggagga ataaaccatggcgactcaacaacagaac, and FAR 8087:RBS-ptrc- (SEQ ID NO: 55) 3′ taaggtcatggtttattcctccttgtcgacttaggcggtttta tcgtcagtatc.

The polynucleotide encoding the BTE thioesterase (SEQ ID NO: 35) was synthesized by GenScript (Piscataway, N.J.), and the synthesized gene was amplified by PCR using the following primers:

RBS-ptrc:CaBayTES1- (SEQ ID NO: 56) 5′ ACCGCCTAAGTCGACAAGGAGGAATAAACCATGACCTTAGAGTG GAAACCAAAA and CaBayTES1:RBS-pCK (SEQ ID NO: 57) 3′ GCCAAACCTTCTTCATATGTATATCTCCTTTTATACCCGCGGCT CGG.

The native E. coli fadD gene (SEQ ID NO:7) was PCR amplified from E. coli genomic DNA using the following primers:

RBS-pCK:fadD- (SEQ ID NO: 58) 5′ CGAGCCGCGGGTATAAAAGGAGATATACATATGAAGAAGGTTTG GCTTAACCG and fadD:3′ cloning site- (SEQ ID NO: 59) 3′ TTAAGAAGCTTCCGAGTAAGTTCTAGATCTTCATTAGGCTTTAT TGTCCACTTTG.

PCR amplifications were performed with Herculase II (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, Calif.) following manufacturer's protocol with at 60° C. annealing temp. These three PCR amplified fragments were combined using SOE PCR (splicing by overlap extension PCR) standard protocol (see, Warrens et al., 1997 Gene 186(1):29) using primers 5′ cloning site+RBS1:FAR 8087 5′ and fadD:3′ cloning site 3′ mentioned above. The final PCR product was inserted into linearized pCDX11 plasmid with ClaI and BgIII restriction enzymes from Fermentas (Thermo Scientific, Glen Burnie, Md.), ligated overnight at 16° C. with T4 DNA ligase per manufacturer's protocol (NEB, Ipswich, Mass.), and transformed into electrocompetent W3110 ΔfhuA using standard molecular biology methods (Dower et al., 1988 NAR 16:6127-6145). Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 100 ug/ml of spectinomycin and plates were incubated overnight at 37° C. Clones were sequence-verified and the plasmid named pCDX118087-BTE-fadD.

Example 14 Construction of pCDX11-13013-BTE-fadD

Plasmid pCDX11-13013-BTE-fadD was constructed by replacing FAR-V3 present in plasmid pCDX11-8087-BTE-fadD described in example 13, with a polynucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 38) encoding FAR-V4 (SEQ ID NO: 39) as described below.

The FAR-V4 was PCR amplified with the following oligos:

pCDX11-FAR_F: (SEQ ID NO: 60) 5′-ACAATCTGTGTGGGCACTCG-3′; 13013-TES_R: (SEQ ID NO: 61) 5′-TCATGGTTTATTCCTCCTTGTCGACTTAGGCAATTTCATCGTCA TGATCA-3′.

The PCR reaction was carried out using the enzyme Herculase II Fusion DNA polymerase (Agilent Technologies, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif.) with an initial denaturation step at 94° C. for 2 min, followed by 25 cycles of the steps: 94° C. for 30 sec; 56° C. for 30 sec and 72° C. for 2 min. The denaturation step was followed by a final elongation step at 72° C. for 3 min. The resulting PCR product was cleaned with ExoSAP-IT (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, Calif.) and the remaining template was digested with DpnI (Promega, Madison, Wis.).

Five microliters of cleaned PCR product was added to 10 ng of plasmid pCDX11-8087-CaBayTES1-fadD. The mixture was PCR amplified using the enzyme Phusion DNA polymerase (New England BioLabs, Ipswich, Mass.) with an initial denaturation step at 98° C. for 30 sec, followed by 40 cycles of the steps: 98° C. for 10 sec; 72 for 3 min. The denaturation step was followed by a final elongation step at 72° C. for 5 min. After the PCR reaction, the product was digested with DpnI (Promega, Madison, Wis.). This reaction was transformed into E. coli DH10B electrocompetent cells (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.) following the manufacturer's protocols. Cells were plated on LB agar plates containing 50 micrograms/ml of carbenicillin and incubated for 24 hours at 30° C. Plasmid from an obtained clone was sequence verified and named pCDX11-13013-BTE-fadD.

Example 15 C12 Fatty Alcohol Production

FAR-V3 and FAR-V4 were selected for their higher specificity to produce 012-OH at high titer. To evaluate their performance in the presence of a C12-specific thiosterase, plasmids pCDX11-8087-BTE-fadD and pCDX11-13013-BTE-fadD described in Examples 13 and 14, were transferred to E. coli strain W3110K-Δ4 described in Example 11 and evaluated under the conditions described in Example 10.

TABLE 2 C12—OH Fatty Alcohol Production Total C12—OH % C12—OH of Strain Fatty Fatty Total Fatty W3110K Δ4 Alcohol g/L Alcohol g/L Alcohols harboring 2.3 0.53 23 pCDX11-8087-BTE-FadD harboring 2.1 1.2 57 pCDX11-13013-BTE-FadD

All publications, patents, patent applications and other documents cited in this application are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent, patent application or other document were individually indicated to be incorporated by reference for all purposes.

While various specific embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 

1. A recombinant bacterial microbial culture that produces a composition of fatty alcohols said fatty alcohol composition comprising fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of at least 60% of C12, C14 and C16 fatty alcohols, the culture comprising a recombinant bacterial microorganism comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”); (b) a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”) and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”).
 2. The recombinant bacterial culture of claim 1, wherein the recombinant bacterial microorganism is E. coli, the heterologous TE has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO: 35; the heterologous FAR has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 37 or 39; and the over-expressed ACS has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
 8. 3. The recombinant bacterial culture of claim 1, wherein said fatty alcohol composition comprises fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of at least 20% of C12 fatty alcohols.
 4. The recombinant bacterial culture of claim 1, wherein the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 80% by weight of C12, C14 or C16 fatty alcohols.
 5. The recombinant bacterial culture of claim 1, wherein a) the heterologous TE has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 35; b) the heterologous FAR has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39; c) the over-expressed ACS has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 8 and d) said fatty alcohol composition comprises fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of at least 30% of C12 fatty alcohols.
 6. The recombinant bacterial culture of claim 1, wherein the heterologous FAR has 98% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 39 and said fatty alcohol composition comprises fatty alcohols having a carbon chain length of at least 50% of C12 fatty alcohols.
 7. The recombinant bacterial culture of claim 1, wherein the fatty alcohol composition is recovered from the culture.
 8. A recombinant bacterial microorganism comprising (a) a gene encoding a heterologous thioesterase (“TE”); (b) a gene encoding a heterologous fatty alcohol forming acyl-CoA reductase (“FAR”) and (c) an over-expressed acyl-CoA synthetase (“ACS”); wherein the recombinant bacterial microorganism when cultured in the presence of a carbon source under suitable culture conditions produces a fatty alcohol composition.
 9. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, wherein the microorganism is E. coli.
 10. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, wherein the TE is encoded by a fatB gene.
 11. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 10, wherein the TE comprises at least 85% (88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 10 or SEQ ID NO:
 35. 12. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, wherein the FAR is encoded by a gene derived from the following organisms Marinobacter algicola, Marinobacter aquaeolei, Oceanobacter sp., Mus musculus, or Hahella chejuensis.
 13. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, wherein the FAR has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 75% (80%, 85%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 37 or
 39. 14. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, wherein the FAR is a variant FAR having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99% sequence identity to SEQ ID NOs: 2, 4, 6, 37 or
 39. 15. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 14, wherein the gene encoding the FAR comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NOs: 3, 5, 7, 36 or
 38. 16. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, wherein the ACS has an amino acid sequence comprising at least 85% (88%, 90%, 91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
 8. 17. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 16, wherein the gene encoding the ACS comprises a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
 7. 18. The recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, further comprising a) an inactivated fadR gene, said fadR gene comprising a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 11 and/or b) an inactivated fadE gene, said fadE gene comprising a nucleic acid sequence having at least 90% (91%, 92%, 93%, 94%, 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99%) sequence identity to SEQ ID NO:
 13. 19. The fatty alcohol composition produced by the cultured recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim
 8. 20. The fatty alcohol composition produced by the recombinant microorganism of claim 8, wherein the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 60% by weight of C12, C14, or C16 fatty alcohols or any combination thereof.
 21. The fatty alcohol composition produced according to claim 20, wherein the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 80% by weight of C12, C14 or C16 fatty alcohols or any combination thereof.
 22. A method of producing a fatty alcohol composition, the method comprising culturing a recombinant bacterial microorganism of claim 8, under suitable culture conditions with a suitable carbon source to produce a fatty alcohol composition and producing said fatty alcohol composition.
 23. The method according to claim 22, wherein at least 50% of the fatty alcohols produced by the recombinant bacterial cells are secreted into the culture.
 24. The method according to claim 22, further comprising recovering the produced fatty alcohol composition.
 25. The method according to claim 24 further comprising reducing the recovered fatty alcohols to produce alkanes.
 26. The method according to claim 24 further comprising esterifying the recovered fatty alcohols to produce fatty esters.
 27. The method according to claim 22, wherein the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 60% by weight of C12, C14, or C16 fatty alcohols or any combination thereof.
 28. The method according to claim 22, wherein the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 0.5 g/L of fatty alcohols.
 29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the fatty alcohol composition comprises at least 5.0 g/L of fatty alcohols.
 30. The method according to claim 22, wherein the microorganism is cultured at a temperature in the range of 20° C. to 45° C.; a pH in the range of pH 5 to pH 7; and for a time in the range of from 16 hours to 144 hours.
 31. The method according to claim 22, wherein the microorganism is cultured in the presence of fermentable sugars obtained from a cellulosic feedstock.
 32. A fatty alcohol composition comprising the fatty alcohols produced according to the method of claim
 22. 33. The fatty alcohol composition of claim 32, wherein said composition is used in a detergent composition.
 34. The fatty alcohol composition of claim 32, wherein said composition is used in a personal care composition.
 35. The fatty alcohol composition of claim 32, wherein said composition is used in a cleaning composition. 